Lay Off My Guy!
by Royal Kenya
Summary: Zelda and Link have been friends for a long time. Its been so long that Zelda has developed a love for her good friend. But a new face that appears at the mansion has taken a liking to Link also. And she's not going to let Zelda have him without a fight.
1. A Visitor's Welcome

**This story is a little bit after Samus' little incident in my story Free Me. But this one is on Zelda and Link. Like I said most of my stories will connect and I also said it won't always be about the same people. On with the story.**

**Edit as of June 26, 2009**

_I went back and reread this fic and I laughed at how silly I was at times. But I winced at the many missing words in my fic. I apologize for that and as of right now, I'm currently fixing the missing words. But I won't be fixing any story endings or word choice. I'm trying to preserve and remember how I write, hee, hee, it makes me laugh sometimes and even gives me ideas! So, please bear with me as I edit, thanks for reading and enjoy!_

_-Royal Kenya_

**Chapter 1**

**A Visitor's Welcome**

"So don't leave me in suspense. What happened?"

Samus and Zelda had gone down to the cafeteria early to talk. Zelda looked around to check every door.

Samus groaned. "I promise you Peach won't be here for awhile. She's probably organizing her room still."

Zelda turned back. "Okay. I met Link outside. I told him I wanted to thank him for saving me from those guys."

Samus nodded. "Yeah, you told me about that. If anyone did that to me I would hunt them down and kill them!" she looked at Zelda. "Sorry Zel… continue. How did you thank him?"

"Well I gave him a handshake." She knew Samus was going to say something. She stopped her in time. "Wait there's more!" She pushed some of her blonde locks back. "After the handshake, he started to leave."Zelda watched Samus focus out of the corner of her eye. She continued. "I called his name and he came back. I told him there was one more thing. Then I leaned in and kissed him."

"Zelda, I'm so proud of you!"

"It was only a short kiss and then I told him it was just a thank-you kiss." Zelda said while turning red remembering that day.

Samus' enthusiasm turned to a frown. "Aww jeez, Zelda. Why did you go and say that to him? Now he'll really believe it. Link can be gullible sometimes you know."

Zelda put her head down. "I know."

Samus crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling. "Let's just hope he doesn't believe you."

Noise was heard as Samus spoke those last words. Yoshi and Kirby came booming into the kitchen. Pikachu and Pichu were riding on Yoshi. They both knew they were all trying to get first dibs. Soon Ganondorf and his gang, Mewtwo (He's still nice to everyone), Bowser, and DK walked in. They sat down at a table far from the others they claimed as there own. Then the little kids came in. Actually, Popo, Nana, Young Link, and Ness raced in.

Zelda tried to talk to change subject. "So… you miss Marth?"

Samus turned quickly and sighed. "Yes, more than ever. But he'll be back after he returns from whatever the people in Altea wanted to see him about. But I can't stand it while he's gone."

Zelda giggled. "You'll live."

"I don't know about that, Zel. Hey, what about this? Link is training right now. Let's go see if we can talk to him there."

"No, Sam. I can't interrupt his training. You know how he gets when interrupted."

"He won't care if it's you."

"I don't know. I'm just not sure."

Samus rolled her eyes. "I swear, you 15 year olds. When you turn 16 in the next couple of weeks, can you promise me that you won't be so fearful of the guy?"

"Yeah…16. It'll be great."

"And wouldn't it be the best birthday gift if you were Link's girlfriend?"

Zelda blushed thinking about that. "Well that would be nice."

"Sammie, Zellie!"

Samus and Zelda turned around to see Peach. She was accompanied by another girl who looked about 16. She had long black hair down to her waist and lively big purple eyes. She was wearing a purple spaghetti strap top and shoes to match, with blue jeans.

"Girls, I would like you to meet Veronica. She's the daughter of the man who made the SSBM Company. He told us his daughter wanted to stay and meet us all. So she'll be hanging around the mansion for a few weeks."

"Hey, I'm Samus." Samus waved before turning to Zelda. "...and this is Zelda."

Zelda smiled. "Hi."

Veronica finally spoke. "It's nice to meet you all."

"We're all going to be roommates. It'll be exciting." Peach exclaimed.

"We'll be looking forward to it." Samus got up and Zelda as well. "We better get going."

"Oh wait. I came to ask you guys if Veronica can stay with you guys. I have to run to the hospital wing. Pichu and Pikachu fell into the lipstick bush and since the lipsticks weren't picked yet the thorns are still in them and they cause you to get really weak. Anyway can she come with you?"

"I promise not to be a burden." Veronica said softly.

"Of course you can come. We're not doing anything major right now anyway. Right, Sam?" Zelda said smiling in relief for the plans being ruined.

Samus was pretty angry with the plans being ruined. But she nodded. "Sure…nothing" she muttered.

When Peach left, Veronica sighed. "I hope I didn't ruin anything."

"No, of course not." Zelda said. "Let's go do something els-

"Oh you're not getting out of this." She grabbed Zelda's arm and dragged her in the direction of the SSBM teleporting room. She looked at Veronica. "Come on, Veronica. We're going to Hyrule temple."

"But I'm sure she'll want to do something more fun than this." Zelda protested as she fought off Samus' grip.

"I'm sure I can handle whatever it is." Veronica said giggling.

"Exactly, come on." Samus said.

Zelda bit her lip while she was helplessly dragged away.

* * *

"Link, when will I be able to use the master sword?"

Link and Young Link were on their break resting. Young Link had many questions about his older self's life.

"In time Young Link." Link took a swig of his water. "Come on let's practice again."

"But I never pass this test."

"Come on. You'll never get any better if you don't try. Let's go."

Samus, Veronica, and Zelda made it safely to Hyrule Temple. Link nor Young Link noticed them. This gave Zelda the advantage.

Veronica turned to Samus. "So what are we doing here?"

"Just trying to hook up two people is all." Samus said eyeing her prey.

Veronica looked in the same direction. "You mean that guy? I met him early this morning. Link, correct?"

Zelda nodded while watching.

Link was standing against the wall. "Alright, just shoot the arrow above my head."

Young Link gulped nervously. He pulled out an arrow and aimed.

Samus turned to Zelda. "When they're done, you're going down there."

Zelda gasped. "No! I'm not ready!" She turned the other way and ran.

"Oh no you don't, Zel get back here." Samus ran after her leaving Veronica by herself.

"Wait you didn't say you had fire arrows!" Link shouted.

Link shouting caused Young Link to panic and let go of his shot going directly to Link. "What?"

Link eyes widened as the arrow came fast towards him.

Young Link saw this and covered his eyes. "Oh no!"

The arrow landed above Link's head. He sighed in relief, but panicked again when he found out his hat was on fire.

"Put it out! Put it out!" he shouted. Someone poured water over Link's head. Link looked up and saw who it was.

"Veronica? What are you doing here?"

Veronica grabbed Link's arm gently. "Forget me, are you okay?"

"Um… yeah. Thanks."

Veronica handed him his hat. "I saved it for you."

Link took it and smiled. "Thank you."

Veronica giggled. "It was nothing really. I know how much you love this hat."

She stopped and looked at him. "Oh Link. You have a cut on your forehead."

She moved in close to him and moved her hands to where his cut was. "We have to get this treated. Young Link, hurry and tell Doctor Mario."

Young Link did as he was told and ran to the teleporting room.

Samus was able to stop Zelda and drag her back. "Come on this is your big break."

"Sam I can't… what if he thinks if I'm weird, what if he runs away. Or-

Zelda looked up and stopped talking. She gasped in horror to see Veronica holding Link's hand and walking away. Both of them were smiling and talking.

Zelda felt her heart sank. "No." she whispered.

**So here's the first chapter. Not much will tell you what this story is about in this chapter but in the next few chapters it will. Review if you want to!**


	2. Not Who We thought She was

**Thanks for the reviews. Hope to get more! Now next chapter!**

**Chapter 2**

**Not Who We Thought She Was**

Zelda's eyes wouldn't budge from Link and Veronica. Samus was as shocked as Zelda was.

"Looks like you have some competition, Zelda."

"No, she's just being nice. She doesn't like him like that."

Samus looked at her questionably. "You sure about that?"

Zelda nodded while still looking. "I'm pretty sure… sort of."

"Hmm. Only one way to find out." Samus started walking towards them. "Come on, let's go question her."

"But…" She sighed when she realized she couldn't hear her. "Fine I'm coming."

Meanwhile, Link and Veronica were still walking to the teleporting room. "Veronica, it's just a small cut. You don't have to make it a big deal."

Veronica looked at him with a worried look. "Link it's still bleeding, it needs to be treated."

"Hey, Veronica."

Link turned to see Samus running towards them. He also saw Zelda not too far behind. "Sam, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, me?" She forgot she would have to explain why she and Zelda were here. "We were showing Veronica some of the arenas and-"

"Link what happened to your forehead?" Zelda had caught up and had noticed the cut mark.

Link's hand shot up to the cut mark. "Nothing." Zelda gently grabbed the hand Link had on his forehead and examined the wound.

"Young Link hit him with an arrow." Veronica said trying to tug Link along. "I'll just take him to the hospital wing and-"

"Please. You don't have to waste your time with this idiot who went and cut himself. It's such a waste of your precious time staying to help him."

Link spoke up. "It's not like I went and stabbed myself!"

Samus interrupted him. "Zelda, why don't you take him there?"

Zelda eyes widened. "Me?"

Samus nodded and told Zelda with her eyes, 'This is your chance'. "I'll show Veronica more of this place. Okay, Veronica?"

"Um …sure." She let go of Link regretfully. "Let's continue."

Link groaned. "Whatever… can we just go do this so I can get on with my life?"

"Okay. Bye, you guys!" Zelda called as she and Link began to leave.

On their way back Zelda was panicking. She spoke up to him. "So did you get in a good work-out?"

"I guess." He muttered. He looked at Zelda while they were walking. "I was wondering maybe when we have out team battles next week if you would like to be my partner?"

"Partner…me?" Zelda was astonished._ Link is asking me to be his partner. He never asks this question._

Zelda was so dazed by the question Link had to stop to see if he was still with her. He waved a hand in front of her. "Uh…Zel?"

"Yeah?" she snapped out of it.

"What's your answer?"

"Yes… I will." she said smiling. She thought of something as soon as they were at the teleporting room. "Link we don't have to go to the hospital wing. I can heal you with that method I use."

"As long you don't faint this time… go for it." He closed his eyes.

Zelda put her hand to where his cut was and chanted her healing spell. In a matter of seconds, the wound was fully healed.

Link opened his eyes and felt where his wound was. When he noticed it was gone, he sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said.

"Well you better get back to your friends." He said going into one of the transporters. "Maybe early tomorrow we can train together? Of course only if you want to?"

"That would be great."

"Alright then. See you tonight."

"Yeah, see ya."

He waved and soon with a push of a button, he was gone.

**Later that Night**

"He asked you to be his partner? Usually Roy or Marth is his partner." Samus' face was beaming.

Zelda blushed. "Yeah, I know. I'm so excited!" she said squealing.

Zelda and Samus were standing at Zelda's closet. "So I'm trying to decide which color dress to wear." Zelda pulled out the first dress. "How about the blue one?"

Samus shook her head. "Nah, he sees you too much in that one."

She pulled out a red one. "This one?"

"Sure, that one would be good for something special, but not for the match." Samus pulled out a green one. "Wear this one. It's of course Link's favorite color."

"Hmm." Zelda pulled it out and hugged it close to her chest. "I can imagine him liking that."

"Alright let's go eat."

The girls headed downstairs to the big table. At dinner the smashers usually ate together. Everyone was already there. Samus and Zelda took their seats at the end. Not a good decision because across from Samus was Captain Falcon. But there was nowhere else to go.

Captain Falcon had his helmet removed and was combing his dark brown hair. His eyes darted over to Samus as she sat down across from him.

"Hey Sam. You're looking beautiful tonight."

Samus scowled at him and Zelda giggled lightly.

"Okay everyone." All the smashers looked up as Master Hand spoke. "I'm sure all of you have met Veronica now… especially all the boys."

All the male smashers were staring at Veronica and she didn't even care a bit. "Hello again." She said.

"Anyway, the news for today is in a few days we will be going to the annual Nintendo Game Festival?"

All the old smashers groaned.

Samus stared at him in shock. "You can't possibly make us go again!"

"Now I know you guys who were here last year are upset. But-"

Luigi interrupted him. "There is nothing you can say that will make us like this idea!"

Mario and Yoshi next to him nodded in agreement. "That's right!"

Captain Falcon spoke up next. "People called us their servants.

Kirby pouted. "We didn't even get to have any fun."

Fox groaned. "You never told us we had to work last year. And we had to set it all up for the people who were going to be honored."

M.H tried to speak. "But you were honored."

"Please. The only thing we got honored with was a mop." Link crossed his arms and glared at Master Hand.

Pikachu stood on the table. "Let us not forget what they did to me."

M.H tried to speak again. "Pikachu, we talked about this."

"Well we're going to continue talking about it. They made me stay in the petting zoo all day! It was so not cool." Pikachu growled in anger. "People petting me at a zoo…. Ooh it makes me just want to-"

M.H sighed. "Pikachu are you done now?"

Pikachu sat down. "I guess."

Master Hand took control of the room. "Anyway everybody, this year we're honored."

Everyone listened to him now that they knew they wouldn't have to work.

Captain Falcon whispered to Samus. "Hey Sam, I need to tell you something."

Samus leaned in to listen regretting it all the way. "What?"

"But we remember everyone be on your best behavior. That means your crew too, Ganondorf."

Ganondorf tried to act innocent. "What makes you think we're the bad guys?"

"Oh maybe all those "WANTED" ads with your ugly face on them." Link said while picking at his food. Roy who was next to him snickered.

Ganondorf growled at Link. "I swear one more word, boy and you and me are going at it."

Link wasn't even fazed at what he said. "Whatever, just don't get caught."

All the smashers laughed.

Ganondorf stood up his fist glowing purple. "That's it! You and me right now!"

Link unsheathed his sword. "Bring it!"

Everyone started to cheer them into fighting.

"NO FIGHTING!" But M.H had control of the room again. "We won't have to work. Next week on Sunday we leave and please-

"Captain Falcon you sick jerk!"

A loud smack was heard. Everyone turned to the end of the table. Samus was turned away from the table and Captain Falcon had a red mark on his face.

"Hmmph! He asked for it!" Samus snapped.

**Back in the room late**

_Zelda's Dream_

"_And the champions of the tournament are Zelda and Link."_

_Everyone cheered. _

_Zelda and Link smiled proudly. While holding the trophy._

"_I couldn't have done it without you, Zelda."_

_Zelda blushed. "Thanks."_

_The scene changed quickly to out on a beach shore with the sun setting. Link and Zelda were sitting on the shore watching the waves._

_Link put an arm around Zelda and pulled her in close. "I'm really glad I have you around to be with me."_

_Zelda was taken back by the words and blushed. "Really?"_

_Link didn't answer. He stood up and pulled up Zelda with him. "I was always shy to tell you this, Zel… I love you."_

_Zelda's eyes widened. "You do?"_

_He nodded smiling at her. "Will you be my girlfriend?"_

_Zelda felt tears coming to her eyes. "I love you too and I would love to be your girlfriend."_

_He gently held Zelda's face and wiped her tears. "I'll always love you, Zelda."_

_Zelda knew what was coming, as Link leaned in. She stood on her toes to kiss him but her kiss was interrupted by a voice._

**_End of Dream_**

"Zelda, wake up!"

Zelda woke up to see Samus staring at her while shaking her. "What!"

"It 7:00, you were supposed to meet Link two hours ago."

Zelda shot up in bed. She looked at her clock. Indeed it was 7AM. "Oh Nayru! I'm late!" She darted out of bed to get ready. In one minute Zelda was out of the bathroom and was ready. She ran out the door and down the stairs.

When she was in the last step, she saw Veronica at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey Zelda!"

"Veronica, have you seen Link?"

Veronica smiled. "Oh he went into town with Roy and Young Link around 6."

"In town?" Zelda asked.

"He was waiting on you, but I sent him on an errand."

"What kind of errand?" Zelda asked sadly.

Veronica's smile turned into an evil glare. "An errand to get away from you!"

Zelda stepped back. "What? You sent him away. But why?"

Veronica sighed and walked up to Zelda. "Let me tell you something, Princess. You're getting a little to close to Link. I don't like it when girls get too close to my guys."

"What?" Zelda was hardly taking in the words she was saying to her. She couldn't believe what Veronica was saying.

Veronica grabbed the collar of Zelda's dress. Her purple eyes were burning into Zelda's blue eyes making Zelda scared. "Listen closely. You better leave Link alone. He's mine."

"What, he's yours-"

Veronica cut her off. "I get what I want and right now, I want Link. You may have known him for a long time but he is better off with me! You think your beautiful looks will get him, but they won't." Veronica heard people coming and sighed angrily. "So let me make this understandable!"

She continued to stare angrily. "Lay…off…my …guy!"

And with that she pushed Zelda back almost making her lose her balance.

Peach walked in. "Oh there you are, Veronica. Let's go cook breakfast."

Veronica's anger turned to happiness in a second. "Okay, Peach!"

Peach smiled and then looked at Zelda. "Oh Zellie, do you want to help?"

Veronica turned back to Zelda with a bright smile. "Yeah, do you?"

Zelda was still shocked at what had happened, but shook her head no.

"Okay then. We'll talk later!" Peach said as her and Veronica headed to the as Veronica reached the door she turned back to Zelda with an evil look on her face that gave Zelda shivers of fear. Veronica went into the kitchen. Zelda sighed when she was gone. She knew Veronica meant business.

**So how do you like this chapter? Review please and tell others!**


	3. So Much for Teamwork

**Hey I'm back. I'm sorry I haven't written in awhile. I had to think about what to write in the next chapter. I was reminded that I still needed to write the story by a reviewer. Not saying any names of course. Haha, I'm just saying. Here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter 3**

**So much for Teamwork**

Zelda didn't feel like going back to tell Samus what just happened between her and Veronica. She didn't even want to tell Master Hand. She was just going to let it go. She was about to go up the stairs but a hand gently touched her shoulder. Zelda turned around to see it was Mewtwo. Zelda knew right then and there that Mewtwo knew about what just happened.

She looked down. _Mewtwo, please…don't say anything about what just happened. I can handle it._

_What do you plan to do? _He said in Zelda's mind.

_I don't know but please don't speak a word on it. _Zelda replied._ I'm so shocked by what happened I don't know what to do._

Having nothing else to say, Zelda walked up the stairs deep in thought.

**In the Kitchen**

Veronica and Peach prepared the food. They had been chattering about boys, clothes, and the smashers at the mansion.

"So you like it here, Veronica?" Peach asked.

Veronica looked up at Peach with her lively purple eyes. "Yeah it's the best. I like the smashers here too. Zelda's the best though."

"Speaking on Zelda, she's never up this early. She usually sleeps in. She must have wanted to go training with Link this morning for the team battles."

Veronica cocked her head to the side. "Team battles?"

"Yeah we have team battles once a week. And we get to pick who we want to battle with. Link told Roy that he was partnering with Zelda and I sort eavesdropped on the conversation. You didn't know?"

"No I didn't." Peach went back to what she was doing and Veronica frowned to herself. _Until now. I will make sure Link and Zelda won't partner up._

**Samus/Zelda's room**

Samus stopped brushing her hair. "He wasn't there?"

"No, he was gone." Zelda said.

Samus sighed. "I could have told you he wouldn't have been there. You were late."

"Yes. But I don't understand how that could have happened. I set my clock at the right time." Zelda went to the clock and picked it up. "Maybe it's broke."

Samus frowned. "Maybe a girl who's name starts with a V and ends with an A real pain in the butt did it."

Zelda didn't understand at first but then she got it. "Samus, we don't really know it was Veronica. But…"

Samus eyed her. "But what?"

"It probably was her." Zelda timidly said. She thought she wasn't going to tell her but she decided to. "You see…

As Zelda told Samus what happened. She could see Samus' anger rising. When she finished she thought Samus was going to tell Veronica off. But all Samus did was shut her eyes.

"She's a major problem." She said with her eyes still shut.

"If she wants Link that bad, I don't mind giving him up." Zelda put her head down.

Samus' eyes flew open. "Hey, hey, hey! No, you won't. You love Link and I know that in Link's heart he has some feelings for you too."

Zelda looked up at her. "Huh?"

"Don't ever give up on love. When I told Marth that I couldn't be with him and I really did want to be with him I gave up." She looked up at the ceiling. "But Marth never gave up. He helped me and look where we are now. We have a strong bond and I'll never let someone try to ruin it for us. And you shouldn't let someone ruin yours either."

Those words touched Zelda. "Thanks, Sam." There was a knock at the door.

"It's open." Samus and Zelda called at the same time.

The door opened and Link entered. He had on a smile.

"Hey, ladies! Zelda what happened this morning?"

"Um." _Should I tell him? _She shook her head in disagreement of her thought. "My clock just didn't go off. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, no big. I was tired anyway." Link said leaning against the wall.

Samus stretched. "You know what? A shower sounds great right now."

She got up and went to the bathroom. Before she left she winked at Zelda. She mouthed "Now's your chance." as the door closed. Zelda looked up at Link. Link was down on a knee snapping a buckle on his shoe. Zelda took this chance to look at his face. _He is so gorgeous. That shiny blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. Oh I can just drown in them. Gee I never thought like this about any other boy before. Maybe because none of them match him in comparison._ Zelda thought dreamily. She turned from him._ I better stop staring._

Link continued to fiddle with his buckle. _"Well this will keep me from looking at Zelda. It's like staring at a beautiful angel. I'm surprised she would even be friends with me. She's the Princess of Hyrule, after all._

_Maybe just one more glance._ Zelda and Link thought at the same time

Naturally, they caught each other looking at the other. They both turned red and glanced back down.

Samus was peering through the door. _Sheesh, what a bunch of shy babes. _Zelda spoke up. "You want to sit down?"

Link shrugged and sat down next to Zelda. Link and Zelda remained silent. Zelda decided to say something. "Link I really am sorry about what happened."

"Come on, Zel. It's okay. I'm not mad at all. Besides…" Link gently grabbed Zelda's hand and patted it. "You're already an awesome fighter."

Zelda was embarrassed. "Oh not really. Only when I'm Sheik I'm a great fighter."

Link still held her hand. "No, either way you're an amazing fighter."

Zelda's heart was beating rapidly. "That's sweet, Link."

Link realized how he had been saying stuff like an idiot. He let go of Zelda's hand and put his arms behind his head. "Yeah that's pretty stupid of me." He stood up. "Hey, I got to go. See you at the team battles later."

Zelda felt the urge to talk to Link some more. "Hey Link I was thinking, we should wear our green outfits."

Link smiled. "Now that's a color. Green it is!" he waved and went out the door.

Zelda sighed. "He left out on me instead of vice versa."

"I can't believe it!"

Zelda was tackled to her bed. Samus was on Zelda's back smiling.

Zelda giggled. "I thought you were taking a shower."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Please… that was just an excuse. You made Link get shy and run out. You got him to be scared and made him sweat."

Zelda crossed her arms under her chin. "And I'm guessing that's a good thing?"

"Yep. Girl, you have him now!" Samus said giving her a thumbs-up.

"That's nice. But can you kindly get off me?" Zelda managed to push Samus off her and onto the floor. "You weigh a ton!"

"Hey!" Samus picked up a nearby pillow and chucked it at Zelda.

It hit her square in the face. "Hey I'm just saying!"

The two laughed and started hitting each other with pillows.

* * *

Link walked down the hallway. He saw Roy not too far ahead of him.

"Hey Roy!"

Roy turned around to see his best friend. "What's up Link? Did you check with Z?"

"Yeah, she told me the whole story." Link said catching up to his friend.

"Did you ask Sam?" Roy asked.

Link stopped. "Oh, about you being her partner?"

Roy stopped slowly and turned. He crossed his arms and glared at Link. "You didn't ask her did you?"

Link shook his head in defeat. "No, I didn't. Got distracted talking to Zelda."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Once again… hypnotized. Link, you got it bad."

"Sorry. I'll call her on the room phone for you." Link said.

"Whatever. So what color are you guys wearing?" Roy said as they continued walking.

"Green. Surprisingly, she picked it."

As they were talking, they didn't realize that someone was listening in on the conversation. And I believe you all know who.

**Later that Evening**

"Think I should partner up with Roy, Zel?" Samus asked while putting on her green suit.

"Why do you want to know? You worried it'll be offensive to Marth?"

Samus shrugged. "Partly."

"Well, Roy is Marth's best friend. He'll understand. It's not like its Falcon or anything."

Samus shuddered at the thought. "Eww… next subject."

"Hey! Sam, have you seen my green dress?"

"Don't know. Maybe Peach borrowed it?" Samus suggested.

"Why? She has enough clothes." Zelda bit her lip. "But I'll go check."

As Zelda left to check the room there was a knock at the door. Samus went to the door and opened it.

"Hey it's Roy!" Roy said.

Link poked in his head. "And Link!"

The last person who poked their head in made Samus groan.

"Don't forget me loveable Veronica."

_More like evil Veronica._ Samus thought. "Hey guys."

"Just came to see if you guys want to walk down with us." Link said.

"Well…" Samus started.

Zelda came back from Peach's room. She gasped when she saw the three at the door. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Came to see if you were ready." Link said.

Zelda looked at them sadly. "Sorry, guys I can't find my green dress. It's strange. I saw it when I pulled it out this afternoon."

"I saw your dress." Veronica said. "I was going to give it to you too. I was hoping you weren't wearing green."

Zelda's eyes widened as Veronica gave her the green dress. There was a giant hole in the green fabric. Zelda hands shook as she held it. "Oh no."

Veronica put on her sad face. "It was in Pichu's room. She must have took it and ripped it like a chew toy. I'm so sorry, Zelda."

Roy pondered this situation. "Maybe… you two can change colors."

Samus shook her head. "Nuh-unh, you can't do that. M.H records the colors towards match time and its pass that time."

They all stood there silently.

Zelda looked at Link who looked upset. "Link… I didn't…I"

Samus cut her off. "Look, I'll stay here with Zelda to go talk to Pichu. Why don't you and Roy be partners? Okay, Link?"

Link nodded. "Yeah …sure." Link looked at Zelda with one hurtful glance that made Zelda feel like crying. "Let's get going guys." And with that Veronica, Link, and Roy left.

Zelda was so horrified by her dress she threw it down. "How could this happen?"

Samus removed her armor suit. "I don't know but a little pokemon is about to explain." She grabbed Zelda's hand and they headed to Pichu's room.

* * *

Link was silent ever since they left. Veronica linked her arm with Link's. "It's okay, Link. I'll make you feel better."

She rested her head on Link's shoulder. Link sighed. "Thanks."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Hmm."

* * *

"Pichu, please tell the truth." Samus pleaded.

The evidence of green fabric was in Pichu's room. Pichu was on the verge of tears as soon as Samus and Zelda wouldn't believe her about the dress.

"Why Pichu? Why?" Zelda pleaded .

Pichu started crying and she kept shaking her head. "Pichu pi! Pichu pi!" Pichu waddled up to Zelda and cried in her lap.

Zelda sighed. "Samus I really don't think Pichu did it."

"She didn't. Zel look on the T.V."

Zelda looked up and her eyes widened. It was the announcer who broadcasted the Smashers' fights. Veronica was being interviewed. But that's not what shocked her. Veronica was wearing green but not just any green. It was the same design and fabric as Zelda's dress.

**A/N: Oooh! Someone's a little evil. Review Please!**


	4. Books and Musical Memories

**Chapter 4**

**Books and Musical Memories**

Zelda played her harp to Zelda's Lullaby while humming it to herself. She always played the harp when she was upset to ease her pain. As her fingers ran across the musical strings she thought about her adventures with Link. There weren't many since her father had full eye contact on Zelda most of the time. But she thought about her time here and all the good stuff that happened to her, until Veronica showed up. That girl coming back in her memory made Zelda lose concentration on what she was playing. She started playing sharply and out of tune.

Samus walked in the door and stopped short when she heard the out of tune keys coming out of Zelda's harp. "Um …Zelda?"

Zelda looked up at Samus and realized what she was doing. "Sorry I was playing a lullaby."

Samus frowned. "Sure didn't sound like something that would put me to sleep."

"Well it sounded better but thoughts in my mind made it sound cruddy." Zelda responded.

"Thoughts of … Link?" Samus asked.

"That and Veronica." Zelda sighed. "Why does she have to treat me like this? I haven't done anything to her. I've been nice to her and she returns the favor with chaos."

"Just pure jealousy, Z." Samus came inside the room and shut the door. "I say you plot revenge."

"Sam, I'm not really the get revenge type."

"Sometimes you have to change your attitude because they will least expect it." Samus looked up at the ceiling to think about what she just said then looked back at Zelda. "Then again that might be kind of hard for you."

Zelda got up. "Hey look. I've got to go to Peach's room to go get her sewing tools."

Zelda walked through the bathroom that connected to Peach's room. Samus followed in right after her.

Samus continued. "It's not hard to change to be a hardcore girl you know. I do it all the time."

"That's because you're so hardcore all the time. You're a natural." Zelda said with a laugh.

They walked into Peach's room.

"Besides, you have people like Captain Falcon to inspire you." Zelda responded.

"True, he is the inspiration to all my punches to his face. Let's change subject, what do you want to do for your birthday?" Samus asked, blowing her blonde hair out of her face.

"Gee, I don't know. Back at the castle, I got whatever guests brought me and never got to decide. I guess anything would make me happy."

"Anything? I know there's something you want more than anything." Samus said.

Zelda thought for a moment._ There's only one thing I wish for. But I'm not telling her what. _"Nothing I can think of." She looked in one of Peach's drawers. "Here are the tools."

"Good let's…ouch!" Samus had hit a desk right next to her knocking a book off it. "Oops."

Zelda bent over and picked up the book. "Knocked over a dictionary. These pages are all folded." She opened the dictionary to straighten the pages but gasped when she saw what was inside. "Sam, come look at this." Samus looked over Zelda's shoulder to see there was cut square like hole inside book. And inside it was an even smaller purple book. It had Veronica on it.

"Is this a diary?" Zelda said quietly.

"Yes, but not just any diary. It's Veronica's."

Samus was reaching in, but Zelda caught her hand. "No. Samus this is private. We shouldn't read it."

"Fine. You don't have to read it, but I will." Samus took the book out of the dictionary and opened it. Zelda watched as Samus' green eyes darted through the book. Sometimes, Samus would make noises of shock or interest. And sometimes her eyes would grow big. After a little more flipping, Samus sighed and closed the book. She placed it back in the dictionary, closed it up, and put it on the desk.

"Wow." Samus murmured quietly.

"What?" Zelda questioned her.

Samus looked at her and shook her head. "I'm not telling. You want to know, you got to look for yourself. We'll make it a test of your nosiness."

"But-" Zelda stopped short as she heard the door rattling. The door opened to reveal Veronica. She cocked her head to the side when she saw them in the room.

"What are you guys doing in here?"

Samus and Zelda just stared at her for a moment. Zelda answered. "We were just getting some sewing tools for my dress."

"Oh." Veronica's suspicious face dropped to a warm smile. "That's right. You have to fix your dress."

Samus started to walk back to her room. "Hey, I'll see you later."

When she was out of sight, Veronica turned on Zelda. "So did you like my new blouse I made out of your fabric?"

"Oh, my fabric? I hardly noticed." Zelda lied.

Veronica glared. "I'm warning you, Zellie. Lay off. Find someone else who is on your low level. Link doesn't go out with circus rejects."

Zelda felt something that never happened to her. Anger started to boil up inside of her. "Veronica." she said angrily. "You are…"

"I'm what?" Veronica challenged her.

Zelda's anger kept rising. She was going to say something but Veronica stopped her. "I forgot Master Hand wants to talk to you."

Zelda glared at her.

"I'm being serious. You better answer his call." Veronica said evilly.

Zelda started to head for the door. "I don't believe you. But I have to clear my absence from the tournament anyway." She left Veronica in a huff. She went out the door and slammed it shut. Zelda's anger started to slowly drop as she walked out the door. "Veronica is really a- " She stopped short on walking. _What's happening to me? I never get like this. I'm always in control of my anger emotions. _Zelda pondered this, as she made her way to Master Hand's office. She opened the door to see him floating as usual.

"Good. You're here, Zelda."

Zelda walked in and shut the door. "Yes, Veronica said you wanted to see me."

"Yes. You didn't clear your absence from the tournament match, you know."

Zelda nodded. "Yes, I came by to do so. I was distracted earlier."

"Distracted huh? By what?"

Zelda's heart started to pound. "Oh it was nothing really. Just my outfit wasn't quite ready for the team battles." _I shouldn't tell him just yet about the real issue. I'll wait till it gets serious._

Master Hand accepted her story. "Okay. That's reasonable. Zelda, you are one of the more behaved smashers. We can trust you with anything right?"

"Oh course." Zelda smiled.

"That's why I know Veronica won't be too bored with you around. You're someone she can really get to know."

"Mm-hmm." Zelda said nodding._ Yeah, she's someone to know alright._

"But I don't want to keep you any longer, Zelda. Why don't you go down and eat?"

"Yes, that's what I should do. See you later, Master Hand."

Zelda quickly walked out the door and bumped into Young Link. He was in a hurry. "Hi, Zelda!"

"Hey, slow down. What's the rush?"

Young Link sighed. "I'm doing a good deed."

"A good deed?" Zelda echoed.

Young Link set down the books he was holding. "Peach wants me to take all her old romance books downstairs for someone else to have. But I want to go outside and play with the others before it gets too dark. She wants me to put them all away." Young Link whimpered. "I'll never get done in time."

Zelda placed her hands on her hips. "Well, I don't have anything to do. I'll take them down for you while you go play with the others, okay?"

Young Link was beaming. "Really?" He ran to Zelda and hugged her. "Thanks, Z. Thank-you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"No problem. Hand me the box." Zelda took it from him. Young Link thanked her one last time before running off.

Zelda looked in the box. "Hmm. She never showed me these." She took out one of the books that looked interesting to her. _Well she is giving them away… I'm sure she won't mind me looking at them for a while. _Zelda nodded to herself deciding to keep the box of books. She carried them off to her room. She opened the room to see Samus on the phone. Not wanting to disturb her best friend, Zelda quietly walked to her side of the room. She dropped the books on her bed and sat down next to them. As she started to dig through the box, she saw interesting books on romance and advice. But the last book she saw was little and pink. Curious, she grabbed the book. But when she opened there was nothing written inside. Nothing but blank white pages.

She heard a phone hang up. Samus sighed."That was Marth. He's coming back the day we leave for the festival which is in two days." Samus had said walking over to Zelda. "What's that, Zel?"

"I…I don't know" she stammered. "You know?"

Samus squinted at it and then spoke. "You see that book you have is a personal book where you let yourself go. It's where people write out all there anger in those books, threats, and deadly things they want to do to certain people. Reminds me of Veronica's Diary."

Zelda looked up at Samus. "What was in it?"

Samus hesitated telling her, but sighed. "I didn't want to tell you earlier. But you should know." Shr sat down next to Zelda and placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "Look, I was reading her diary… and she really has it out for you."

Zelda frowned. "I know that already I-"

"Unh-unh." Samus shook her head. "It's much worse. She's plotting real evil things to do to you. Anything just to get you away from Link. Like anything to get you expelled."

Zelda's eyes widened. She couldn't speak. But she found some words. "Things like what?"

"Dunno. It didn't say. But definitely we have to watch out for her. Or maybe we should say something." Samus suggested.

"No."

Samus looked at Zelda. She had a serious look on her face. "We don't have any proof. Without anything, Veronica can just weasel her way out of it with her acting skills and we'll be the ones packing." Zelda dropped the book on the ground. "I don't want anything to do with this."

"Don't worry. We're going keep an eye on her. Bad news is she didn't write what she was going to do in those books. She probably keeps it stashed somewhere else for safety reasons." Samus said kicking the book under Zelda's bed.

"I'm going down to eat." Zelda said going out the door.

"See you later. I have a mission to do tonight and will be back really late!" Samus called.

As she watched her leave, Samus sighed. "She's going through so much."

**Cafeteria**

Link and Veronica were sitting down at a table talking. Link found Veronica's talks interesting. They always would be about something he could get a good laugh out of.

Veronica was smiling brightly. "Link, we have so much in common."

Link smirked. "Yeah, except for the fact that I have enormous ears."

"No, you have cute ears. I'm sure lots of girls fall for them too, don't they?" Veronica said.

"Yeah, _sure_ they do." Link said sarcastically.

Veronica moved in close and smiled. "Well I'm really-

"Hey guys!"

Veronica groaned as she saw the bubbly Peach show up, ruining her moment. She sat down right next to Veronica. "Have I got stuff to tell you Ronnie!"

Link frowned as the two got into a conversation._ Don't want to be a part of this. _He quietly got up and looked around. He spotted who he really wanted to talk to. And she was all alone.

Zelda was reading one of Peach's books. "These books are really interesting." She said to herself. A pair of hands went over Zelda's eyes darkening her sight. "Huh?"

"Guess who, Princess? He's handsome and has saved your life many times."

Zelda, knowing who it was right away smirked. "Oh Ganondorf is that you?"

"What?"

Zelda laughed. "I'm just kidding, Link. I know it's you."

Link removed his hands and sat down next to her. "Hey, Z."

She smiled. "Hey you."

Zelda closed her book. But Link had his eyes on it. "What's that?"

Zelda panicked and grabbed the book off the table. She turned her back to Link. "Nothing."

Link tried to look over her shoulder. "Looks like something." He tried to grab for but she scooted her chair a little bit from him. Link was getting irritated. "_Zel._"

"_Link." _She responded in the same tone.

Link grabbed Zelda by her shoulders with one arm and pulled her back to him. He used his other arm to reach for the book while still holding Zelda down with the other arm.

"Link, no!" Zelda said laughing.

He reached and grabbed the book from her hand. He glanced at it for a second and looked at Zelda. "Since when were you into romance books?"

"Oh, Peach left them for me." Zelda said snatching the book back.

"What would you need it for? You're already beautiful. You don't need any advice on how to catch a guy."

Zelda blushed and looked at Link. "You think so?"

Link realized what he said in public and started blushing. "Um… yeah sure. I think so anyway."

Zelda was really embarrassed by Link's comment. She was going to say something but was cut off by a yelp. Zelda looked to the left only to get splattered with food right on her face. Her eyes widened. She saw the source of what just happened. Veronica was lying there on the floor. She had tears in her eyes.

Link was already on the floor next to her. "You okay, Veronica?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." She said quietly. "I just slipped on some water on the floor. Oh my..."

Link and Veronica looked at Zelda covered in food. Bits of noodles were caught in her hair and a very smelly, red sauce was splatttered on her dress along with other types of food. All the other smashers in the room also looked and started laughing. But what Zelda saw really hurt her; Link smile formed on his face, indicating to Zelda that he wanted to laugh at her. Zelda got up and ran out the cafeteria. When she was out and halfway up the stairs she started crying. She ran all the way to her room and shut the door. Samus was gone so she couldn't tell her about what just happened. She threw her book onto the bed and headed for the bathroom.

"He wanted to laugh at me." Zelda said through her tears. She dumped her head into the sink to get the food out. She had never been so embarrassed.

**The Corridor**

After a while Link started to take Veronica to the hospital wing. Link realized that Veronica's leg was bruised and she couldn't really walk. So Link carried her out of there. They were in the corridor when Veronica spoke again.

"Thanks Link." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "You're so sweet."

Link smiled as they walked over to the wing. Veronica smiled evilly since she knew she had Zelda beaten. Zelda had come out just in time to see that kiss on the cheek.

Zelda eyes were shocked at the kiss. She could feel tears again. "I can't take this." Zelda headed out to the backyard. It was completely dark but Zelda could still see her favorite tree. She went outside and sat under it. She pulled her harp and started playing her lullaby again. She couldn't help but wonder what Link really thought of her and what he thought of Veronica. Who did he truly like? She continued playing. _Veronica has her good features. Link admires them a lot. Were Link and Veronica destined to be?_

Zelda stopped playing and sighed.

"Don't stop."

Zelda looked up and saw her love Link standing there. She didn't say anything and just looked down.

"I can understand that." He said.

He walked over to the tree and sat down next to her. They sat there in silence for minutes until Zelda spoke,."Shouldn't you be tending someone else's needs?"

"Look, Zel. She was in need of help wasn't she?"

"Yes. I wouldn't say anything about it. But when I got food on me, I saw you smiling, wanting to laugh at me."

Link smiled. "Well it was a funny sight Zelda."

"Hmph!" Zelda turned further away from him. "You never do this. And then when she-" Zelda stopped in mid- sentence and held her tongue. "Never mind."

They sat in silence again. But Link pulled out his ocarina and started to play Zelda's Lullaby. Zelda looked at him through the corner of her eye. His blue eyes looked sad as he played. _He's really sorry. I don't know why I get so mad._

He stopped and looked at Zelda. "Zelda, please hear this. I have times when I laugh and make fun. But even though I do, you're my friend and I'll always care about you."

Zelda turned and looked at him. He told her the same thing he told her the one time Samus' old friend, now enemy, Blade's goons ambushed her** (A/N: Happened in _Free Me)_** and he still remembered his promise of friendship. Zelda smiled and started to play on her harp, Zelda's lullaby. Link smiled realizing she had forgiven him and started to join in. As they played something amazing happened. Link's Triforce of Courage and Zelda's Triforce of Wisdom started to grow brightly. As they shined, Zelda and Link felt as if they went to a new world where all the memories of their past came back. The joyful the times of when they were together came back. When they first met, when they fought Ganondorf, and all the times they talked to each other as they enjoyed the beauty of Hyrule. As they stopped playing the glowing stopped. They were back in the backyard. Link put an arm around Zelda's shoulder and she rested her head on Link's chest. She closed her eyes very sleepily and Link closed his eyes also.

"Link?" she said quietly.

"Yes?" he said quietly.

Zelda smiled. "Thanks."

**A/N: Awwwww! So cute, but so not over. It's not ending like this. Review Please! **


	5. Getting Ready

**Hello. This is going to be a bit of a rush chapter. I'm really trying to finish this story, because I want to start another story. Stories are just popping in my head.**

**Anyway Continuing on!**

**Chapter 5**

**Getting Ready**

The next day was busy. It was the day before departure to the festival. Which meant getting ready and getting ready. Luggage was being packed and cleaning being done. Zelda took all the little kids to the park while everyone else got ready for the trip. They didn't want the little kids in the way. Zelda loved the younger kids and didn't mind taking them to the park for a while. Zelda was taking Young Link, Pichu, Ness, Kirby, Popo, and Nana.

"Grab your backpacks you guys you won't be back for awhile." Zelda said as they were heading out the door. As they were grabbing their bags, Zelda saw Link taking some bags upstairs with Roy not far along. Link caught Zelda's eyes and looked her way for a moment. He mouthed hi and continued taking the bags. All the memories of last night came back to her. Thinking about when they played music under the tree, then fell asleep together, and then when he walked her back to her room and the red rose he gave her made Zelda smile to herself.

Zelda sighed dreamily._ He's so sweet._

Nana tugged on Zelda's dress. "Zellie, let's go."

Popo tapped Zelda. "And I think Pichu needs help with her bag."

Zelda looked at Pichu and held in her laughter while Pichu tried to carry her bag.

Zelda elicited a giggle. "Let me help you with that Pichu."

**Main Room**

A few hours later, Samus found a rag and floor cleaner to clean the floor with. She dumped the rag in the bucket and then ringed it out. She got ready to clean the steps starting from the top. She got down on all fours and started on the first step. She scrubbed hard knowing Master Hand would have a fit if he saw one dirty spot. When she started to get to the third step she saw Veronica at the end of the steps. She sighed out of annoyance but smiled. "Hello Veronica."

"Don't try to act innocent Samus Aran. You know what you did." Veronica snapped.

Samus placed her cleaning rag down. "What did I do?"

"That day I found you in the room I'm staying in, I knew you had found my diary and read it too. Admit it!" Veronica said angrily and pointed an accusing finger at Samus.

Samus stared at Veronica hard and long. Then she spoke. "I'm not going to lie to you. I did. I knew you always had it out for Zelda. So I needed to know what to protect my best friend."

"What I do is none of your business!" Veronica spat.

Samus glared at her. "It is when someone tries to hurt my friend."

Veronica gave her a small hmph. "I knew you were trouble from the start. I know you two are trying to stir me away from Link."

"We wouldn't be if you wouldn't have tried to hurt Zelda in so many ways. You're not only trying to break their chances of trying to find love in each other, but you're also destroying a good friendship between them."

"Who really cares Samus? Just get out of my business from now on!"

"We'll just see Veronica." Samus said before going back to work.

Veronica started to walk away and saw something that caught her eye. She smirked. _We will see Samus. We just will."_

**Park**

"Pichu pi!" Pichu yelped.

Young Link, Popo, Nana, and Ness looked at the yelping pokemon.

Ness sighed. "Miss Zelda, Pichu fell in the thorn bush. And she has a thorn in her paw."

Zelda rolled her eyes. She had to admit, Pichu was the most curious pokemon she had ever seen, always getting into trouble. But she was so cute it was hard to get agitated with her. I mean who could resist Pichu's sweetness. She's only five after all.

Nana was cradling the little Pichu in her arms. "Can you help her Zelda?"

"Yes, it's not a problem Nana." Zelda said taking Pichu from her.

Zelda looked at Pichu. "Oh Nayru, little one you got thorns everywhere."

Pichu nodded slowly. "Pi."

"This might hurt a little." Zelda slowly began to pull thorns. Every pluck she made Pichu cry out.

Zelda frowned." Well, if you weren't so curious…"

"What are you up to, Zelda? Pokemon abuse?"

Zelda turned around and saw a familiar swordsman named Marth. "Hey stranger, how long has it been?"

Marth thought. "Not too long. I was only gone for a while."

"That is true. But didn't you say you would be back tomorrow?" Zelda pointed out while still plucking Pichu.

Marth sat down next to Zelda. "Yeah but I missed this place and of course, Samus."

"Yeah, she missed you too. I'm guessing you haven't gone back yet?" Zelda asked. Pichu uttered a small groan.

"Nope, I was heading back just now."

Zelda looked at him as he got up. "They're cleaning up the mansion."

Marth quickly sat back down. "But I can wait."

Young Link ran over to the two. "Hiya Marth!"

"Hey Lil' Link! What's up?" Marth ruffled his hair.

Young Link grinned. "Not much since you've been gone. Want to play a game with us?"

"Sure." Marth said.

Zelda plucked the last thorn off Pichu's tail. "Can I play."

Young Link's eyes slowly looked at Zelda, then back to Marth, then back to Zelda again. "I don't know Zel. It's going to be a rough game."

Marth crossed his arms and looked at Zelda. "It's not suitable for a princess. So you might just want to stay….OUCH!"

Marth looked to see that Zelda had poked him hard with one of the thorns she pulled off Pichu. "You were saying Marth?"

Marth glared at her. "Nothing let's just play."

**Front Door of Mansion**

After a few games with the little kids it grew dark and the kids, Zelda, and Marth went back to the mansion. They had fun all day and were ready for the trip tomorrow morning.

"So Samus told me about a Veronica problem Zelda?" Marth asked to make sure he was correct.

"Yeah, she's a real pain in the rear end." Zelda frowned. "She's been giving me a hard time."

"Sound like a real annoyance. She's really that bad?" Marth opened the door to the mansion.

When they went inside there was a small crowd in front of the steps. The kids ran inside to see what was going on. Zelda and Marth looked at each other before going in. They walked in and shut the door behind them.

_What's going on?_ Zelda thought.

Right in the middle of the crowd was Samus trying to get up off the floor. Marth seeing this ran up to her. "Sam."

Everyone else was astonished to see Marth here. Marth didn't care about the astonished looks. He just dropped down by Samus' side.

Samus eyes slowly opened and when she saw Marth. "Marth?"

Marth helped Samus sit up supporting her head. Zelda came closer and stood by Link who was also watching close by.

Samus let her arm rest on his arm. "What are you doing here?"

"I came early. But what happened."

Samus let go of Marth with the one arm around him and grabbed her head. "I don't know. I was cleaning the floor and when I finished, I was heading down the stairs, I slipped in some water and then I don't know. I woke up on the floor to see you." Samus took one more look at him. "Good to see you again." She sighed as she slowly closed her eyes again.

Zelda gasped. "Samus…no."

**Zelda's Bedroom**

Zelda opened the door. "I'm really sorry about this Marth."

Marth looked at Zelda. "What do you mean?"

"I know Veronica did this. I just know it. She could have really hurt Samus badly." Zelda said sadly.

Marth just looked at the sleeping Samus in his arms. "It's not your fault." Marth carried her inside. "Veronica just has some things she really needs to work out.

Marth placed Samus on her bed. "Besides, Dr. Mario says she'll be better in the morning." Marth lightly touched her cheek. "That's good news." He got up. "She really gave me a scare for a second." He bent over and kissed her on the forehead. "I know you'll be fine Sam." He whispered.

Marth looked at Zelda. "Get some sleep Zelda. See you guys in the morning."

With that, he left the room. Zelda couldn't bear to look at her best friend unconscious. Samus was in that state, just because she wanted to help Zelda with her trouble with Veronica.

"This is my entire fault." Zelda said quietly.

**Next Day on the Bus**

"Oh Zellie, I've been saving up all my money for this festival. I'm going to buys lots of clothes and accessories." Peach exclaimed.

"I know. I've been saving up my money too." Zelda said in response.

Peach ran her hand through her hair and Zelda looked at the window of the bus. The bus was going to the airport and they were going to fly by plane. But it was a long drive and they barely started. Zelda looked around the bus. Across from her were Samus and Marth. Marth had Samus snuggled up close to him and they were talking about something. Roy was behind them and he was sort of eavesdropping on their conversation. Link was up front with Veronica and they were just talking. And who did Zelda have to sit with? Nana and Pichu of course. Those two really looked up to Zelda and envied her. They both wished they could be her. Zelda just had that special bond with little girls. Zelda couldn't say no to them.

"Hey Zellie, can I ask you a question?" Nana asked shyly.

"Yes?" Zelda said.

"How do you know when you're in love with someone?" Nana asked.

Zelda put her focus on Nana. "That's an odd question coming from a 9-year-old."

Nana turned as pink as her parka. "Well… I didn't say I liked someone."

Zelda put an arm around her and pulled Nana towards her. "You can tell me. I won't tell a soul."

"Well I kind of sort of like Young Link. He's so nice but he's not in to girls yet. He's still into being a rough and tough boy and doesn't like girls. But I can't help liking him."

"Yes, he is really not someone who settles down at his age." _When I first met Link he wasn't interested in girls at all._

"But I might like him too because he's super nice to me Zelda." Nana said. "I just hope the day I tell him he won't think I'm weird."

"Well, follow your heart and who knows. Maybe, Young Link will feel the same way."

"Maybe…" Nana yawned and in a minute she was asleep on Zelda's lap like Pichu.

Zelda's eyes started to droop as well. She fell asleep as well.

Samus looked at Zelda. "Marth, I wish Zelda and Link would really get together."

Marth held Samus gently in his arms. "Don't worry, they will."

Roy launched over his seat. "So speaking on Zelda, what are we going to do about those party plans?"

Samus looked at Peach. "Peach you got everything together?"

Peach nodded. "Mm-hmm. She thinks I'm spending the money I saved on shopping for clothes but it's really for the big party we're throwing her. This will be a great party for Zellie!"

Samus bit her lip. "I hope so. She needs something to make her happy. And I hope this will be it."

**A/N: Chapter seems shorter this time. Oh well. Review Please!**


	6. Airplane Entertainment

**A/N:** **Well it's been a while friends. I really had to think about how to do this chapter. But I got it together. Anyway since this one is done I can really get started. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6 **

**Airplane Entertainment**

"Wow, this airplane is huge!" Samus said looking through the bus window. "Are you seeing this, Zel?"

Zelda didn't answer. She had never seen an airplane before. Seeing one was a bigger site than worrying what size it was.

Samus got up and grabbed Zelda's hand. "Come on let's go get a closer look."

"Sure." She looked down at Nana and Pichu still sleep on her lap. She shook them. "Come on guys, get up."

They stirred a little and then stopped moving. Zelda frowned. "Nana and Pichu, we have to go!"

Nana got up and yawned. "Still tired." Pichu didn't even move. She just continued to sleep.

"Let me help you with that." Samus picked up Pichu and Zelda grabbed Nana's hand and they walked out of the bus.

"This is going to be an interesting trip." Samus said looking around when they got outside.

"Yeah, but it probably won't be fun." Zelda said while they walked to the plane.

Samus looked at her friend. "Oh…right because of that one girl."

The girls sighed. "Her name starts a V and ends with an A real pain in the butt!" they said in unison. They laughed when they said it at the same time. Nana was fully awake and she went off to go find her brother.

"Yeah, Sam. It's not going to be easy to relax with her plotting against me."

"You mean against us! I'm going to get her back for what she did," Samus said, narrowing her eyes.

Zelda stopped walking. "Oh, that's right. I never got to apologize, Sam."

"What for, Z?"

"Oh please, Samus. You know it's my fault she's pestering you. All because she's nothing but a selfish little evil girl." Zelda and Samus had reached the plane.

"Don't worry about it."

There was a man out front waiting for them to present their tickets. They gave them to him and then they walked up the stairs into the plane. When they reached the inside they awed. The plane was beautiful. It was like a house. There were some seats like usual planes. But you were able to walk around in this one. It had a small diner in one area and a place to sleep on another end. Plus, there was a small arcade for the kids. Yep, just like a house.

"Wow!" Samus almost dropped Pichu she was so amazed. "Even in transportation, we live in a mansion."

"I can't believe it's so luxurious." Zelda said looking around.

An attendant came up to the two. "Excuse me, we're about to take off. And we need you to please take your seats and buckle up."

Samus nodded. "Okay. Let's go sit over there."

They sat over where Marth was sitting. He was talking to Fox and Roy in a seat behind his. Marth already had his book out ready to read it. Samus sat next to him and Zelda sat across from her in the other seat, far away from the window. Pichu finally woke up and looked at her surroundings.

Zelda grabbed Pichu from Samus and let Pichu buckle up with her.

Marth turned his attention towards Samus. "So this thing is going to fly?"

Samus nodded. "Yep. Fly high in the sky."

Zelda grabbed the armrests of her seat. "Fly?"

Samus looked at Zelda. "Yeah, high above in the clouds. It'll be cool because you'll get to see the top of the clouds and stuff."

"Oh…okay." Zelda slumped in her seat. "That's great."

Marth didn't like Zelda's tone. "Are you okay Zelda?"

"Not exactly. You see guys I'm afraid of heights." Zelda said while blushing.

"You are?" Samus asked.

Zelda nodded. "Yeah. And to think that this thing is going to fly high in the sky with all us smashers on it, makes me even more scared."

"But every time we have are matches and we get knocked out of the ring, we get knocked up high off the ground all the time." Roy said.

"But you still hear me scream, don't you?" Zelda said eyeing Roy.

Roy was about to comment till Link showed up.

He sat down next to Zelda. "Hey, I know this is your first flight so I'm going to sit here next to you okay?"

"What about Veronica? We don't want to leave her alone now do we?" Zelda asked.

Link sat down next to Zelda. "She 's none of my concern she's flown on planes. You on the other hand have not and with my past experience on Samus' driving of her ship I'm coming to sit you through it.

Marth nodded. "Yeah, from riding with Sam here I would buckle up. OWW!"

Samus hit Marth in the back of his head. "Hmph."

Link laughed at him. "Ha! Ow! What are you hitting me for?"

Samus had chucked Marth's book at Link's head. She glared at both of them. "For you guys' information. A ship flies much smoother than a plane does."

A voice came on the intercom_. We're taking off. _The plane started to move and everyone buckled up. For a while the plane was turning on the runway. Zelda felt her nerves going through her stomach. The plane started to take on speed. As soon as it took off, Zelda felt like screaming. But Link grabbed her hand gently. "It's going to be okay, Zelda."

Zelda nodded as she looked at him. Link was being so nice to her. He left Veronica just to stay here with her because he knew she was scared of heights. Zelda never told anyone about her fear of heights. But somehow he just knew. Zelda sat through a full more pulls to the sky. But then it finally stopped. She opened her eyes and sighed. The plane was smooth sailing now. The attendant came back and told them they could get up and move around. While, Zelda unbuckled her seat, Samus nudged her. Zelda looked at her and Samus was pointing at Link. Zelda looked to see Link had still been holding her hand even after they were in the air.

Zelda smiled. "Link, you can let go now."

Link had forgot about the holding hand thing. "Oh sorry."

"It's okay," Zelda said. She straightened her dress. "How long is this plane flight anyway?"

"5 hours tops." Marth said without looking up from his book.

"Oh…so that's why you brought that dictionary with you." Link said sarcastically. Roy laughed with Link. Marth just glared at the two from his book and then went back to reading. Roy and Link frowned. An idea popped in Roy's head and he got out of his seat and whispered it to Link. Link nodded and then Zelda watched as Link mouthed something to Samus. Samus' face scrunched up at first and then when Link finished communicating, she smiled and nodded.

Samus leaned over next to Marth and lightly tapped Marth's book. Marth looked up at her. "Yes?"

"I'm really thirsty. Can you go get me something to drink please?" she asked.

Marth being the gentlemen he is, got up to go get her something. "Anything in mind?"

"Water's fine," she replied.

As soon as Marth left, Roy smirked. "I knew he would leave it." He picked Marth's book up and placed it in a bag he brought in the plane. He got up and started to walk away. "I'll be back."

"I'm going with him." Link said and followed Roy.

Pichu moved from next to Zelda to up in her lap. She stood on her toes to look outside since she couldn't see. Zelda held her arm out and Pichu stood on her arm as a stool in order to look outside. Zelda looked over at Samus fiddling with her gold bracelet Marth gave her. Samus hardly ever took it off. It was something she cherished as much as she cherished the necklace around her neck that her parents gave her. Zelda felt around her neck for the silver necklace that had a pink gem in the middle surrounded by silver. Her mom gave it to her before she died. That was her most cherished possession.

Samus was looking at Zelda. "You never showed me that necklace, Zel? Is it from your mother?"

Zelda nodded. "It was the last gift from my mother before she died. It's not as great as yours, but I do really do cherish it greatly."

Samus sighed. "Are you kidding? Yours is way better and at least it doesn't require opening." Samus started picking at it. "I just know it opens. But I just can't do it for some reason."

"Have you ever tried a locksmith?"

"The question is how many times have I tried to get them to do it? I've been to so many of them and none of them could open it." Samus blew her bangs back in frustration.

"Hey, Samus and Zelda!"

The two looked from there seats and groaned. It was Veronica. And she didn't look too happy.

"What did you two do to Link?" she said nastily.

"We didn't do anything to him. He just came back here to sit with me. Is there a problem with that?" Zelda asked narrowing her eyes.

"Yes it is. First of all he was sitting with me until he saw you come on the plane," Veronica said while pointing an accusing finger at Zelda.

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Goddesses, can you stop with the accusing finger? It's a shame your finger is attached to you."

Samus was laughing in her seat. She had never heard Zelda talk back to Veronica ever. This new side of her friend was pretty funny. Veronica who never heard her talk like that was pretty shocked too. "Listen, you two. Why don't you stop this? At the end of this trip, Link will be mine and you two won't have anything to say then."

Pichu got up on Zelda's shoulder and glared at Veronica. "Pichu, pichu, pi!"

Veronica eyed the little pokemon. "Sorry, I don't speak rat."

"Strange…you look like one."

Samus, Zelda, and Veronica looked in the aisle to see it was Marth. He had his arms crossed and had narrowed his eyes at Veronica.

Roy joined them from the other side. "A big ugly one to get more specific."

Veronica was outnumbered but she didn't care. "So it's all five of you now! Well, you listen you little sorry excuses for-" She stopped when she saw Link coming. She put on her little fake smile. "Hey, Link!"

Link looked at Veronica and smiled lightly. "Hey." He eyed everyone else. "So, what's going on over here?"

Zelda sighed. _He has no clue._ "Nothing at all."

Veronica leaned over next to Pichu. "I'm just looking at this adorable little pokemon." She reached over and touched her pink cheek and Pichu retaliated by sending a jolt through her body. Veronica pulled her hand away quick. "Hey!"

Zelda, Roy, Marth, and Samus snickered. Veronica glared at them and Link chuckled as well. "You shouldn't really just approach their cheeks fast. Makes them nervous."

Zelda took Pichu from her shoulder. "Yes…nervous."

Veronica felt like strangling Zelda and Pichu, but held her smile. "So, anyway, Link you want to head back to the front?"

Link paused for a moment and looked at his other friend's faces. "Nah, I think I'll stay back here. You can go up there with Peach, right? You guys hit it off pretty well"

Veronica's eyes widened for a second, but then they went back to normal. She still held her smile. "Um…sure. I'll go up there with Peach if you're sure."

Link scooted in front of Zelda to get in the seat next to the window and sat down. "Yes, I'm sure."

Veronica's smile was breaking so she decided to leave. "Um…well, I'll see you guys later."

"Bye!" all of them said quickly.

Veronica bit her lip angrily and stormed off.

Zelda sighed._ I'm glad that's over._

"Here's your water, Sam and-" Marth gasped and looked at his seat. "Hey! Where's my…" Marth looked at Link and Roy who were already snickering. "What did you two do with my book?"

"Well, we hid it." Roy said. "And trust me you'll never find it."

Marth eyes widened. "That's not funny, you jerks. Where is it?"

"We'll give it to you in time," Link replied.

Zelda and Samus giggled and Marth looked at them. "Did you guys have anything to do with this?" The two simply shook their heads. Marth was at the end of his rope. "Come on, you two. Please give it back!"

Roy shook his head. "No. This is supposed to be a well-entertained festival which means…"

"...no books" Link said finishing Roy's sentence.

Marth knew there was no point in persuading Link and Roy. So, he tried to get Samus and Zelda to. "Come on, girls… please."

Zelda smiled innocently while shaking her head. "Sorry, but I agree with Roy and Link on this one."

Marth turned to last hope. Samus simply looked at him. "You know how I feel about you and books."Knowing that was a "no" Marth sighed sadly and leaned against Samus in defeat. Samus patted his head. "You'll live."

The whole group laughed except Marth of course. After a few hours, the sun had finally started to go down. It was a pretty sunset. Pichu went from Zelda's seat to Samus' to look out the window. Link, Samus, and Marth were looking outside too. Zelda chose not to since she was still unsure about the whole flying thing. Link stopped looking outside and looked at Zelda. She caught his eye and looked at him as he smiled and gently grabbed her arm. "Come on, Zel. You have got to look outside."

Zelda was unsure but Link pulled her over to the window anyway, making her body practically lean on his. She blushed slightly at this position, but stopped when she looked out the window. It was very beautiful. They were high up in the sky but it didn't seem to bother her when Link put an arm around her.

"Just so you feel secure about falling," Link said with a smile.

Zelda nodded and continued to look outside. The sun made the clouds have a pinkish-purple like color. There were some stars forming and the moon was already in the sky. And it was pretty interesting to see the top of the clouds. They looked surprisingly different from what the clouds would look like from the ground everyday. They were much bigger than Zelda imagined. Happiness seemed to rush over Zelda as the sun finally disappeared.

_I probably never would have seen this if I didn't become a smasher._ Zelda thought to herself as she began to sit back in her seat.

Link moved his arm and put it on the armrest. He began to fall asleep. Marth and Samus had fallen against each other, resting their eyes. Samus leaned her head on his shoulder and Marth's own head rested on top of her own with Pichu resting in Marth's lap. Zelda decided to stay awake this time.

She looked at her Hero of Time, looking out the window, but easing himself into sleep. She smiled. "Yes. Too nice for his own good," she said quietly.

**Airport **

"Congratulations, Zel! You took your first flight on an airplane. Now how do you feel?" Samus asked.

Zelda took a deep breath. "Well, I feel great and alive."

Samus grinned at her best friend as they began to walk to the next bus that would take them, to the Nintendo Festival. "Excellent."

Zelda smiled. "One flight down, and one more to go." The two best friends laughed as they began to catch up with the other Smashers.

Samus got serious now. "So, you think Veronica was serious when she said that she would have Link by the end of this trip?"

Zelda nodded. "I definitely think so."

"So, what are you going to do?" Samus asked as they continued to walk.

"I don't know, Sam." Zelda said while brushing a few locks of her hair back._ But I know that in the end it won't be Veronica with Link. I just know._

**A/N: Not one of my best chapters but I'm trying for you guys. We're going to get some serious rivalry soon. Review Please!**


	7. Dangerous Situations

**Well, I'm back. I'm running out of ideas. I'm trying really hard on what happens in my stories. I need some ideas I think. Here's the next chapter.**

**Chapter 7**

**Dangerous Situations**

"Okay, who's tired of buses besides me?" Fox said slumping into his seat.

Link sat down next to him and chuckled. "I'm with ya, my friend."

Link placed the bag he was carrying on the floor of the bus. Fox turned his attention towards Link. "So, you got off Veronica's leash?"

"What are you talking about?"

Fox lowered his eyes. "Come on, Link. Don't toy with me. We've been friends for a long time now."

Link's face flinched. "Yeah, you're right. She does keep me on a tight chain, doesn't she?"

"See, I know what I'm talking about," said the satisfied Fox.

Link sometimes couldn't stand how Fox could always tell when he was in a jam. But Fox along with Mario and Luigi were his first friends. Between the four of them, no secrets or thoughts could be held in. "She's always clinging to me but…" Link's voice faded.

Fox cocked an eyebrow. "But what?"

"Well, I sort of... well...don't mind that she's like that. She's actually pretty nice. I mean it's nice talking to her. Sure, some of her bragging conversations can be a tad bit annoying, but I never really mind. And-"

"Link. You're not starting to like her, are you?"

Link knew that wasn't Fox's voice. He looked up to see Mario listening in on the conversation from the seat in front of them. His brother, Luigi, who was sitting next to him, looked over the seat too. Link felt nerves growing in his stomach. "What? You mean as in love? No, I can't possibly…. you don't think that I…I mean, come on, you two. Have some sense-"

Luigi looked at Link with a frown. "Don't lie to yourself, Link."

Link felt pretty outnumbered. If he denied it, he knew they would get on him in a matter of seconds. "Well, it's kind of hard to answer that question, Luigi."

Fox's eyes widened for a second, then returned to normal. "Link you can't lead two girls into thinking that you like them a lot when you secretly like the other."

Link opened his mouth to speak, but Mario cut him off. "And don't act stupid, Link. You and us three know the second girl is Zelda."

Fox got on a knee and put his elbows on the seat Mario and Luigi were leaning on. "Yeah, and the last time I talked to you, you said Zelda was the only girl for you at the time. But now you're into Veronica too?"

"Well, they're both great girls. I never find a bit of boredom when I'm around the two." Link said while looking at Luigi. Luigi had been quiet for a long time now. Which meant Luigi was soon to give the best advice in the world. And Link would always look forward to what Luigi's advice was and it would 93 percent of the time always work. But until Luigi was ready, Link went back to talking to Fox and Mario.

"What's weird is that Veronica doesn't mind your ears at all," Fox said after a long silence.

"Well, believe or not, she said my ears were cute."

"And another weird thing is she didn't go after Marth or Roy."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Link asked skeptically.

"Well, because…" Fox saw Link glaring at him. He backed off. "Never mind."

Mario snickered, but backed Link up. " Hey, they may have came from prestigious lands. But they're not the only studs around here, Fox."

Luigi took a deep sigh. He had opened his eyes and was ready for his grand advice. "Link, I think you should make a decision soon. I have been watching them both for the past few days and when you were with one of them the other looked hurt. By those results, I think they really dislike each other a lot. I think you're in a love triangle of destruction, one that will lead to horrible consequences. So, you better make a decision before someone gets hurt or angry with you."

Fox, Link, and Mario just stared at Luigi. His knowledge of everything always awed them. It was like, how could he be goofy at one moment, but when a friend needed help, he had a great solution for the problem? They concluded it was just one of life's many mysteries.

"Little bro, I don't know where all this information of yours comes from." Mario said while knocking on Luigi's head.

Link got into deep thought when the others changed topic. He did like Veronica and Zelda a lot. But which one did he like even more? _I don't really know Veronica that well. And even if Zelda and I were together during that battle with Ganondorf I sure didn't get to find out a whole lot of things about her either. Luigi is right though. I have to make a decision. But who?_

**Nintendo Resort**

"Oh you have got to be kidding me."

Zelda and Samus looked at the long line for people to get on the elevator. Some of them were smashers and some were other Nintendo characters staying in the placed a hand on her hip. "Are people really that dependent on elevators? It's a sad shame."

"Well, when elevators were created that was the fad of this century." Samus responded.

Zelda scowled. "Well, I'm not a patient girl. Let's go find the stairs." Zelda started to walk off in a random direction.

Samus crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Sure, Z. I bet the stairs will be even better."she said sarcastically.

Zelda walked back to Samus and grabbed her arm. She smiled sweetly at her friend. "Come on, Sammie." Samus frowned as her friend dragged her through the Resort. They passed a whole bunch of Nintendo Characters on the way. Some they had seen before, some they had not. They were all socializing with each other or they were checking into the Resort. Finally, by another set of elevators that were also packed, they found some stairs. They were purple steps with gold railings and the stairs looked like they would never end.

Zelda sighed in frustration as she heard her friend complain again. "Come on, Sam." She said as they started up the stairs. "Think of it as an adventure. It'll be fun."

**About 32 steps later…**

Zelda strained to grab the rail and her knees started to grow weak. "Okay, that's enough adventure."

Samus turned around. "Aww, what happened to walking up the stairs being fun?"

"The fun stopped at the 15th step." Zelda said while trying to regain her balance.

Samus was ahead of her and hadn't complained at all yet. "It's not so bad. And I'm having so much fun."

"_And I'm having so much fun."_ Zelda mocked in a similar tone to Samus' voice. "My feet are killing me. There weren't even this many steps up to my chamber bedroom."

"Well, if you cut out the Princess royalties, I have a suggestion. For your sake, you should take off your heels and walk up here."

Zelda sat down on a step. "You don't have to tell me twice." She pulled off her right shoe first and then her left. "Ah… that feels so much better."

"Well, don't just sit there." Samus started to walk up the stairs again. "I don't plan to spend the rest of my night on these stairs"

Zelda grabbed some of her dress in her hands as she began to catch up with her feet in no pain. She eventually caught up with Samus and the two broke into a jog up the stairs. When they reached the top, they saw Ganondorf talking to Mewtwo by their open room. When they walked passed them, Samus and Zelda couldn't hear anything so they guessed they were talking through their minds.

They saw Falco and Fox next fiddling around in their pockets.

"I swear, Falco. I gave the key cards to you!"

Falco stopped looking in his pockets and threw his hands up in frustration. "Well, obviously you didn't. They're not in my pockets or bag!"

Fox stopped looking in his pockets and looked at his friend in disbelief. "So, just because it's not in your pockets I have to be the one who lost it!"

Falco didn't look like he was going to take back what he said. "Pretty much."

Fox looked like he was going to explode. "Have you ever considered for ONCE IN YOUR LIFE that one THING… just ONE THING, could be your fault!"

Falco just smirked at Fox. "Come on, Fox. When have I ever screwed up anything?" he said calmly and casually.

Samus and Zelda walked past them fast because a war was about to once again be held between Fox and Falco.

Yoshi and Kirby were pulling a very large cooler into their room. "Probably a life supply of food in there." Samus whispered in Zelda's ear.

Zelda laughed as they finally reached their room. It was in between Ness, Popo, and Pikachu's room and Pichu's, Nana's and Jigglypuff's room.

Zelda looked through the bag she was carrying on her shoulder. "And unlike Fox and Falco," she pulled out a pink keycard, "I have my key."

Samus pulled an orange key card out from her pocket. "And so do I. It's cool how they made our keycards our favorite color. I just love orange."

Zelda stuck the keycard in the slot and pulled it out. The light turned indicating to open the door. When they opened the door they screamed in delight. Their room was how they always dreamt it would be. One side of the room was pink and the other half of the room was an orange color. Each side had a canopy bed that was at least a King Size. They had dressers and one walk in closet. There was a bathroom in the corner part of the room and a small kitchen area with kitchen tools and supplies.

Zelda couldn't believe her eyes. "Like you always say, Sam, I think we have died and gone to heaven!"

The girls walked in and went to their side of the room. They looked at their beds. They each had a satin pillow in their color and said their names on it.

"Zel, I might just spend my vacation in here." Samus dropped her bag to the floor.

"Rethink that." Zelda sat down on her soft bed. "If this is just the bedroom, there are probably things even more amazing than this at the festival."

"Maybe." Samus yawned and stretched. "I'm so tired. It's been a long day." She looked at her transformation watch on her wrist which also functioned as a communicator and watch.

"Well, I was going to take a shower first. But you can go since you're so tired." Zelda got up and grabbed her bag. "I'll go put my stuff up in the closet."

Samus' eyes darted up from her wrist. "No! You go ahead and shower, okay? I can wait, I'm going to take a look around anyway."

Zelda let go of her bag and got up. "You are? Do you want me to come-

"NO!" Samus said a little too loud she lowered her voice. "No, you just go ahead and shower. I'm not going to wander off too far."

"I don't want you to go by yourself." Zelda said not backing off of her offer.

Samus got up and walked over to Zelda's side of the room. She grabbed Zelda's bag and shoved it into her hand. She turned Zelda around and started to push her towards the bathroom. "I'll be fine. Now go ahead and shower. I insist."

Samus got Zelda all the way to the door before Zelda planted her feet to the ground. She looked at Samus over her shoulder. "Okay, Sam. I get the picture, but don't be so hasty."

Zelda went into the bathroom and shut the door. Samus sighed in relief and victory to get free from Zelda for a while. She hurried out the door to go meet everyone else to go plan for her party.

**Peach and Veronica's Room**

Veronica sat down on her bed and bit her lip in anger. She had heard enough about little "Miss Annoying Zelda". Peach had just left their room to go plan for Zelda's surprise party. Veronica was asked to come but she lied saying she wasn't feeling well and wanted to rest. But what she really wanted to do was find a way to bring Zelda down. Usually she would never do things like this, but Zelda just drew her into doing it.

Veronica remembered her diary and pulled it out from under her pillow. Her ideas of how to plot against Zelda were written in there. She flipped through the pages of her book. Some ideas were humiliating, some were to wreck Zelda for life, and some were a bit dangerous than others. Ideas that could end in death."

"I think I'm going to have to look through my darker ideas." Veronica grinned evilly.

**Outside in Resort Hall**

Zelda tied the sash to her robe tight over her pink nightgown. She let her hair hang loose as she walked down the hallway. Everyone had retired in his or her room for the night. At least that is what she thought anyway. As she looked around her eyes stopped over by the balcony. _It's Link. _She continued to stare at him. Link was no longer in his green tunic. He was wearing gray sweats and a black sleeveless muscle shirt, which showed his smooth muscular body. He wasn't wearing his hat, so his long blonde hair was hanging down his neck. He still had his sword strapped to his back.

_He looks even cuter than before. _Zelda thought. She couldn't help but slowly crept up to him.

Link's ears perked up to her footsteps and he spun around quickly. "Who's there?"

Zelda gasped and backed up as she saw Link grab for his sword. When Link saw who it was, his face eased up and he sighed. "Oh. Sorry, Zel. I didn't know it was you."

Zelda straightened herself up. "Well, what's wrong? Why are you so edgy?"

Link sighed and let go of his sword. "Just deep in thought."

He turned back looking over the main lobby of the resort. Zelda walked up to him and placed her elbows on the railing. "Anything I can help with?"

Link turned and looked at her. She was looking down._ You could if it wasn't about you. But maybe... _Link grabbed the railing. "Well, it's about… um…Roy."

Zelda looked at him in confusion. "Roy?"

"Yeah, you see he having trouble with these two girls. They both like him a lot, but they don't like each other. Roy likes them too, but he doesn't know who he likes better. How should he choose the girl he likes the most?"

Zelda was quiet. It was an interesting dilemma, but even more surprising that this involved Roy. Roy seemed to only show interest in pestering Peach and for Roy to have another girl he is intested in was another surprise. _Strange. Why does that sound familiar? _

Link was waiting patiently for an answer. Zelda thought of something and spoke. "Well, Roy should pick a person who understands and likes him for who he is. Roy should be able to trust her. He should get a girl who loves him."

Link's aquamarine eyes shifted from Zelda to looking down at the lobby again. _Sounds like you, Zelda. But it sounds like Veronica too. So I'm still in square one._

Zelda looked at Link now. "Well, did I help you out?"

Link turned back to Zelda and looked in her sapphire eyes of concern. "Yes, you did."

"Well that's good. And tell Roy that he should really look around here to find his answer. The answer to the girl of his dreams may be closer than he thinks" The princess added for the sake of a certain princess friend of hers. Zelda sighed and yawned softly.

Link smiled. "Sounds like you're tired."

"Yes, I am." She pulled up the sleeve of her robe.

"Well, I'm going to sleep too." Link stretched and brushed his blonde hair out of his face. "This is why I wear my hat all the time."

"Well, why don't you cut it?"

Link gasped and grabbed his hair. "Zelda, how could you say such a thing? I love my hair. Every single little strand."

Zelda giggled. "Okay, don't get all Marth on me." She yawned again. "Well, good night, Link."

Link bowed. "Good night, Princess."

Zelda frowned and put her hands on her hips. "_Link!"_

Link grabbed her hand and smiled. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist." Link lifted her hand and kissed it. Zelda made a silent gasp. "Good night, Zel."

Link let go of her hand and waved good-bye. He went to his room across from where they were looking over the main lobby and shut the door behind him.

Zelda was blushing. She touched her face._ Why am I blushing? He's been kissing my hand since we were young. _She looked at the kissed right hand. "But they didn't feel as affectionate as this one felt," she whispered. She shrugged it off and walked back to her room. When she went inside, Samus was taking her hair out of a ponytail. When Zelda came in she finished. "Where did you go?"

Zelda smiled. "Oh, just looking around." She went to her bed and climbed into the bed. Samus came from in front of the mirror and turned the light off. She climbed into bed too. "Good Night, Zel."

"Good Night, Sam." Zelda placed her head on the pillow and fell fast asleep, dreaming peaceful dreams.

**The Next Day**

The next day was very sunny and partly cloudy. The sunlight woke Zelda up but she wasn't quite ready to wake up yet.

"Sam, could you shut the curtains please_," s_he said groggily.

Samus didn't answer. Zelda looked up to see Samus wasn't even in the room. She slowly rose up and looked over at Samus' bed. There was a letter on her bed. Zelda walked over to her bed and picked up the letter.

_Zel-_

_Went out with Marth this morning for breakfast and a walk around town. It's a kind of morning date. I'll be back in a while. And don't get into a hiss fit with Veronica while I'm gone. I want front row seats. See you later._

_Sam_

Zelda's heart dropped. She would have like to go with her, but sometimes Samus and Marth would need time for themselves. They were a couple after all. After placing the letter down, she took another shower and got ready for whatever the day held. When she was done, she looked in the closet and pulled out her lavender dress. With the matching shoes and gloves. After she got dressed, she did her hair and then she went to her jewelry box and put on her triforce earrings.

She looked in the mirror and spun around. "Everything looks great. I'm ready to begin the day."

She walked out the door with a smile. "Yes, I'm ready for anything. But today, I'm taking the elevator."

Zelda walked over to the elevators. Two of the three were out of order._ Probably because of all those people riding the elevator last night. _She guessed.

She went to the elevator that was working and went inside. She pressed the button for the elevator to go to the 1st floor. The doors started to close. _Maybe Link and I can do something today if I find him._

Zelda noticed all of a sudden that the elevator was not going down. Zelda looked at the buttons. "I pressed the button. What's wrong?" Zelda looked up to see the top part of the elevator open. Her eyes widened as smoke started to come in the elevator. It surrounded her and she couldn't help but breathe some smoke into her lungs. Zelda started to cough uncontrollably._ This elevator is on fire!_

To stop herself from breathing in any more smoke, she put up Nayru's Love up to protect herself, but she still kept coughing. She tried pulling open the doors. She couldn't do Din's Fire to break the elevator open and keep the barrier up at the same time. When she couldn't open the door, she pressed her back against the elevator. She looked up, seeing the flames up above in the elevator vent. They were cutting the cords holding the elevator together. One cord snapped and the elevator started to shake violently.

Zelda screamed. "Oh Nayru, what do I do!" She continued to cough. "This barrier isn't going to hold up much longer."

**A/N And I'm going to stop it right here. I never do cliffhangers. I think this is my first one. I don't know how many more chapters I'm going to do. Depends on the amount of reviews I get. Well, you know what to do! Later!**


	8. Healing Wounds and Feelings

**Chapter 8**

**Healing Wounds and Feelings  
**

"Ah! It's going to be a beautiful day today!" Veronica threw the door to her room open.

As she walked down the hallway, she came to a stop in front of the elevators. She looked at the one with smoke coming out of it.

"Oh. Someone should really go and do something about those fires. They could hurt someone." Veronica said with her trademark evil grin.

She hummed to herself as she walked past the elevators acting like she saw nothing.

**Inside Elevator**

Zelda felt her eyes slowly drooping. The barrier had just stopped. When she would open her eyes her vision was blurry. She almost fell over but grabbed the railing.

"I…have to stay… awake." She said to herself_. Just until my magic returns._

All she could do was wait. It would take at least a minute for her magic to return. But she knew if waited that long she would be dead. She stood and looked at the fire now reaching into the elevator. The elevator shook violently again. Another cord had snapped. She couldn't scream anymore. The smoke had practically flooded her body. Her eyes were watery and her voice was hoarse. Her head was spinning.

Zelda continued to cough. _I have to try some magic._

She tightened her grip on the railing. She eased herself up and faced the elevator door. She raised her hands at the door. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her hands were lying in the fire and were burning her hands. She uttered a small yelp from the pain but tried to ignore it. _Concentrate Zelda. Just clear everything out of your mind._ She kept repeating it to herself. Her eyes were focused on the door and thoughts on forming one last bit of magic.

The second to last cord snapped. The elevator shook again, but Zelda stood still, focusing on the door. At the tip of her fingers red magic glowed. The magic moved from her finger into a big red ball in front of her hands. As it shined brightly, Zelda opened her eyes and launched the red ball onto the elevator door. The door started to glow red and was starting to light up and then the door exploded.

Zelda looked up at the door. _It's open._

She was getting ready to move towards the door but she groaned in pain. She fell to the floor unconscious in the elevator. Her mind kept telling her to get up because she knew she wasn't safe yet. But her body wouldn't budge at all. All her energy was drained. The flames started to surround her weak body.

**Store**

"Let's get this color. It's her favorite." Samus said looking at the party decorations.

"Yes! This is a good shade of pink." Peach exclaimed.

Peach and Samus had departed to the mall to go look for some supplies for the party. They had been waiting for this day because they knew that the Nintendo Festival sold the best stuff. They had just about everything for a party.

"I'm going to have to find some place to bake her cake without letting her find out." Peach said to Samus as they picked up the pink decorations.

"I'm sure there are a lot of bakeries that allow you to make baked goods in their kitchen. What kind of cake is it going to be?"

"Don't know yet. But it will definitely have pink frosting on it!" Peach said with a wink.

Samus winked back. "Everything has got to be pink."

Peach looked out the store window and saw Link and Marth outside. "What are they doing here?" She placed the decorations in her hands in Samus'. "Sammie, pay for these while I go see what those two are doing here."

Samus nodded and went to the check out line. Peach walked outside quickly because Marth and Link were starting to walk away.

"Hey, boys!" Peach called. Link and Marth automatically turned around. Peach caught up to them. "Did you guys go do what I told you to do?"

"Well, we were going to, but we lost Roy in the process." Link explained.

"How did that happen?" Peach exclaimed.

"Simple, he ran off the opposite way of us and by the time we turned around, he was nowhere in sight." Marth explained. "But hey, we're not Roy's keepers."

Peach lowered her eyes. "Let me guess, you guys were arguing and he wandered away?"

"Bingo." Link replied to her guess.

Samus walked out at that time and was carrying the bag with the supplies in it. She noticed automatically. "Where's Roy?"

"No one knows." Peach pointed an accusing finger at Link and Marth. "_They _lost him."

"Sure, like you would do any better. And besides that, Roy is sixteen, he knows how to find his way back to the resort. Or call on his wrist communicator…oh." Marth shook his head. "Scratch that. He left it in the room this morning, thinking that he wouldn't need it."

"And he left the map?" Samus asked.

"Most likely yes." Link said.

Samus frowned. "Oh yeah, he's going to get lost."

Peach groaned in frustration. "This is so irritating. Everyone else is waiting to store this stuff away for the party in four days. We're going to have to split up." Peach was quiet for a moment and then spoke again. "Marth, you and Samus try and find Roy before he starts losing it. You'll pretty much know how to lecture him. And Sam I'll take that bag."

Samus handed Peach the bag. Marth and Samus nodded to show they agreed with Peach's plan and then headed off down the street. Peach and Link were left alone.

"What do you want me to do, Peach?" Link asked.

Peach placed her hands on Link's shoulders. "I need you to go back to the Resort and stay there so Zelda won't suspect anything."

"What will she suspect?"

"Well, if we're always going to be out everyday planning for this party she's going to think something is going on when her friends aren't always around. We're going to have to alternate who will hang out with her, but you're first."

"Right, I got ya." Link said with a thumb's up.

"And Link, don't suggest to hang out with her. Just only if she wants you to, okay?" Peach added as she lifted her hands off him.

"Right, do not let her be suspect. Got it!" Link answered.

"Okay, as for me, I got to drop this stuff off. I'll beep you when we need to meet again." Peach waved and went in another direction.

Link ran off towards the Resort. _She could be looking for us right now._

**Elevator Hall**

In Zelda's head, voices were heard.

"She's not breathing huh?"

"No, but she'll be fine. Just give her more time."

"What? She could be dying. I need to give her CPR."

"For your sake, I suggest you don't do that."

"Why? She'll thank me later. Just watch-

Zelda's hand flew up and she heard a smack. She wondered if she hit her target. She slowly opened her eyes to see she did hit the guy. And the guy was none other than Captain Falcon. Zelda's vision became clear and she could see the red mark on Captain Falcon's face. The person who had told him not to do it was Mewtwo who was standing with his arms crossed in a corner.

"I warned you Falcon," Mewtwo said quietly.

Falcon touched his face in anger. "You didn't have to hit me, Zelda. I was just trying to save your life." He said ignoring Mewtwo's comment.

"Anything for a kiss huh, Falcon?" Zelda coughed some more as she heard her voice. It was still hoarse.

"I suggest you leave Falcon." Mewtwo said as he floated over to the two.

Falcon, obviously mad for getting smacked, took Mewtwo's advice and left. Mewtwo and Zelda were left alone.

"How did I get out of the fire?" She said weakly.

"I teleported in the elevator and then took care of the fire. The elevator to fall so I teleported both of us out and back here. Which reminds me, why didn't you use Farore's Wind?"

"I was weak. I used all my magic to protect myself from the fire."

Mewtwo used his psychic mind to levitate a cup to Zelda. Zelda weakly lifted her hand, took it, and looked at it. It was some kind of drink that was a purplish color. "_Drink this."_ Mewtwo said.

Zelda was hesitant. _Do I really need to drink this?_

_It will help your throat. _Mewtwo said in her mind.

Zelda sniffed at the drink first. She looked at Mewtwo and he gave her a look to drink it. Zelda took a sip and realized it had a sweet taste to it. She instantly drank the rest of it down.

"That actually tasted good. Most medicines don't." Zelda said while licking her lips. "What's in it?"

"You don't want to know," Mewtwo said. "Dr. Mario brought that for you, but he couldn't stay. He told me to tell you when you're done drinking it, get some rest."

"Rest?" Zelda echoed.

"Yes, but not for a long time, just for a while."

Zelda sighed. "What a way to start the day."

Zelda started to stand up slowly. As she did this, Mewtwo said goodbye and teleported away. She had to lean against the wall to get her balance. Her thoughts went straight to Veronica. She knew for a fact that she did this to her. She saw Pikachu walking her way on the way to his room. Pikachu's eyes darted over to where she was and he stopped. "Hey, Zelda, are you okay?"

"Not really. Just got out of the fire in the elevator."

Pikachu's eyes widened. "That was you? I can't believe it!"

Pikachu immediately ran over and leaped up to her and Zelda held out her hands and caught him. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Everything's great." Zelda said softly realizing her voice was already getting better.

"That's so bad. Hey, let's go out to make up for the incident!" Pikachu suggested. "We can get Pichu and go have some fun."

"Well, I haven't seen my friends all day. Sure, let's go… but in an hour okay? I need to rest for a while. Because this medicine is making me drowsy."

Pikachu smiled. "Okay, I'll go tell Pichu."

Pikachu jumped from Zelda's arms and headed to his room. Zelda slowly walked to her room. She was getting even sleepier by the second. She finally made it to her room. Zelda lightly smiled._ Sam will be amazed when I tell her this story._

**Downtown**

Marth and Samus were dragging their feet as they walked down the road. The two were tired and hot.

"You know this could've all been avoided if you two kept up with Roy. He can't sit patient for a long time. Do you two have to fight about things all the time?" Samus said as Marth put an arm around her.

"Sorry, Sam, it just happened." Marth said quietly as they stopped on a corner street to wait for the light.

Samus sighed. "I shouldn't talk. Link and I used to be like that all the time. Hehe, I remember how we'd just fight about everything, but in the end everyone knew were just showing our affection for each other as friends."

Marth let Samus' words sink in, before gripping her a bit closer. "Mm-hmm..."

"Well, where would you go if you were Roy?" Samus asked as they continued to wait.

Marht removed his arm from around her. "Hmm… I don't know. If he was finding entertainment he would try to find some kind of joker or something?"

Samus gasped in delight. "Like a clown shop!"

"A clown shop?"

The light changed and the two started to run again. "Knowing Roy, he probably would get a clown. They're just like Roy, corny."

"True ." Marth agreed as they glanced around at the stores looking for Roy.

"So let's look for all clown shops." Samus said. The two turned the next corner to look through the next street of stores.

**Zelda's Room**

Zelda had changed into her blue dress, minus the shoes and went to her bed. She then climbed onto her bed and fell asleep. She had slept for about 45 minutes until her neck started to hurt. She felt something hard under her pillow. _What's this? _Zelda looked under her pillow and found a little pink book under her bed.

She opened it. _Blank pages. This must be the book that I found in Peach's book box. Samus said it was for writing your anger in it._

Zelda looked in the nightstand desk. She found a pink pen in it. She grabbed the book and started to lie down on her stomach to write._ I need to blow off some steam._

She pulled off the cap and started to write.

_For about a month I have stayed in the mansion with no problems. That was until Veronica showed up. She is the true definition of the bad seed. I don't what her problem is with me. It's like all I'm doing is trying to live in this world like she is. I never did anything to her, I mean she started it all. She is the one who destroyed my dress, splattered food on me, and now put me in a life/death situation. _

Zelda paused for a moment. She never wrote in anger like that but she shrugged it off and continued.

_Veronica is an evil girl. That wasn't even the only thing she did to me. She tried to end my friendship with Link! She goes around saying how Link is hers and how she was going to ruin my life if I came near him. Which she did. Not all the way though. But now I think it's time to turn the tables on her. If she wants a fight for Link she's going to get one and she's going to get it hard._

Zelda didn't know if she meant it or not. But she was pulling towards that she meant it all the way. She placed the book and pen back in her desk. Her ears picked up a noise outside her balcony window. She looked outside to see a pool. And some of the smashers were in it. She could see Young Link and Ness swimming in the pool. Nana and Kirby were hitting a beach ball to each other and what was strange was the ball looked like Jigglypuff. Falco and Fox were doing laps and Mario and Luigi were cheering them on. She formed a small smile as she saw Bowser having trouble walking because Pichu and Pikachu were hanging on to his horns. Ganondorf and DK had just dropped water on Master Hand and now they were running for dear life as M.H shot lasers at them. And then she saw her. Veronica was there and sure enough there was Link right by the side of the pool. They were talking about something that was making Link laugh.

Zelda scowled. _Oh, Link. Why can't you see through that girl?_

Zelda looked harder to see that Veronica was wearing a light green halter-top sundress._ That looks like a nice dress._

Zelda summoned up some magic. She used Din's fire. She sent it straight down by the pool right behind Veronica's feet since she was facing the opposite direction of where the balcony of Zelda's room. When it was right close to her heal. She set it off and blew up. It was a small one, but the impact made Veronica fall forward. And just like Zelda had hoped Veronica screamed in fright and then started to fall in the pool. And Link being a slow observer did not see it in time.

SPLASH!

Veronica had fallen in the pool and all the smashers had seen it. When Veronica emerged from the water Ganondorf started pointing and laughing and soon everyone else started laughing too. Veronica turned red as she hurried out the pool.

Zelda started to laugh herself as Veronica got out of the pool and ran off.

_This is revenge I guess?_

Zelda looked to her left to see Mewtwo in a nearby tree. She blushed slightly. "I didn't know you were here. Sorry, I just couldn't resist." She said still giggling.

"I can understand that." he said as he floated from the tree over to Zelda's balcony railing and sat on it. "She has been giving you a hard time lately."

Zelda turned and faced while sitting on the railing on the opposite side. "True. But I think I got revenge that covered all three things she did to me. One I ruined her dress like she ruined mine. Two, I embarrassed her in front of most of the smashers. And three, I set a little fire that will probably leave some ash stains on her ankles that won't clear up like they didn't on my hands." Zelda counted all three things on her fingers. "Yep, that pretty much covers up everything."

_Well glad to hear you're finally happy. You haven't been happy since the girl showed up. And all because she wants to steal your love, Link._

_How did you know? Did you read my mind?_

_There was no need. Most human emotions are easily seen._

_That is true._

Meanwhile down below, the laughter had started to die down. Everyone had gone back to what they were doing. Pikachu and Pichu let go of Bowser's horns finally and started to go to the entrance of the resort.

"Come on, Pichu let's go get Zelda. She doesn't need to sleep anymore… it's been an hour."

Young Link who was listening to Pikachu walked over to him. "Why would she be sleep when it's practically the afternoon?"

"Wel,l she was up but she was in that elevator that was on fire."

"No. Really Pikachu?" Young Link said in shock.

Link had heard this too. "There was a fire and Zelda was in it?" Pikachu nodded. Link ran over to the pokemon. "Well where is she?"

"No worries, Link. She's just fine. She's safe and should be waking up from her sleep soon." Pikachu responded.

"Pi." Pichu agreed.

Link was still worried. "I'm going to check on her." He ran off past Pikachu back into the resort.

"Wait for us!" Young Link called as he followed Pikachu and Pichu into the resort right after him.

* * *

Mewtwo glanced around the resort.

Zelda looked at him. Zelda always thought Mewtwo to be the non-social type. But she was wrong. Mewtwo was actually someone nice to talk to when you were down.

_Mewtwo?_ Zelda said in her mind hoping he would respond back.

He did hear her thoughts. _Yes?_

_I never thanked you for saving me. So, I say thank- you. I thought my life was over because I couldn't call out to anybody. And then you saved me. Thank-you so much._

_It was nothing, Princess Zelda. I don't really do things like this. I guess this place has changed my heart about humans. Some do have kind hearts like you._

Zelda smiled. "Yes. We all have are bad times but deep down everyone has a heart. Even Veronica and Ganondorf. Somewhere." She muttered the last part.

Mewtwo chuckled. It was the first time Zelda had seen him ever smile and laugh. There was a knock on the door. Zelda and Mewtwo turned towards the door.

"Zelda, are you in there?" A guy's voice called.

"It's Link." Zelda said as she rose of the railing.

Mewtwo floated off his side of the railing and off the balcony too. He looked at Zelda one last time. "I need to go meditate. If you ever need me for anything… just call me in your mind and I'll find you." And with those last words, he teleported away.

Zelda nodded and headed inside. _I will._

She jogged over to her door and opened it. Link immediately walked inside. Zelda stepped back and let him in.

Link put his arms on her shoulders. "Zelda are you okay?"

Zelda opened her mouth to speak but she heard the another knock on the door. "Link I need to-"

"Zelda, are you hurt at all?" Link asked.

There was knock again. Zelda tried to move from Link. "Link, someone's-"

Link pulled Zelda away from the door and over to Samus' bed and set her down and he sat next to her. "Forget the door okay? What about you? Pikachu just told me what had happened? I came to see you immediately."

Zelda immediately dropped the whole door subject. "You came to see me?" Zelda looked in his worried aquamarine eyes. _He was worried about me._

Link answered her question. "Yes. Now are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I was almost a goner but Mewtwo saved me. I'm a little bit weary and have burned hands but I'm fine otherwise." Zelda replied.

Link sighed in frustration and looked down at the ground. Zelda bent over to look at him. "Link?"

"I should have been there." Link said quietly. He looked up and his eyes were so sad. "Zelda I am so sorry."

"Link, these things just happen. You couldn't have possibly known." Zelda said trying to comfort him. "No damage done."

"This may have been little, Zelda, but the next time could be even worse if I'm not there. I'm supposed to be your protector."

"You don't have to worry about me, Link. You can't always be in every place I'm at when I'm in danger. And I would always understand if you weren't there to help me all the time."

Link smiled lightly and then he hugged Zelda. "I understand, Zelda. But I just don't want to lose one of my closest friends."

Zelda returned the hug. "The same with you. I'll always watch out for you too."

The door was now being kicked. Zelda and Link let go of each other immediately.

"FOR DIN'S SAKE OPEN THE DOOR! WHAT'RE YOU TWO DOING IN THERE? MAKING LOVE?

Zelda and Link blushed fiercely at what he said. Link, red in the face of anger and embarrassment went over to the door and opened it. He immediately grabbed Young Link and started punching him on the head.

"OW! STOP HITTING ME!" Young Link yelled.

"NO! WHY DO YOU THINK SUCH THINGS LIKE THAT!" Link yelled back.

"YOU DO IT TOO!"

Zelda walked over to the door and saw Link and Young Link arguing. Pikachu and Pichu were looking at the argument, amused.

"Come on, you two! stop!" Zelda said as she crossed her arms.

Young Link and Link stopped at the sound of the Hylian Princess' voice. Young Link opened his mouth wide and came down hard on Link's arm. Link yelped in pain and Young Link broke free and added a small kick to Link's shoe. "He started it, Zelda."

"I can't believe you were like that once, Link." Pikachu exclaimed.

"Who said he isn't now?" Zelda muttered to Pikachu. Pikachu and Pichu giggled.

"I heard that Zel." Link and Young Link said at the same time.

Pikachu shook his head. "I would love to see how this turns out. But Pichu, Zelda, and I got to go into town."

"What for?" Link asked.

"Just to hang out and have fun." Pikachu's ears twitched.

"Pichu pi chu pi." Pichu said while tugging Pikachu's tail.

Pikachu looked at Pichu. "Okay, I'll ask. Link and Young Link, do you guys want to come?"

"Sure." Young Link said. Link also nodded.

"Okay, but you guys can't argue." Zelda said in an annoyed voice. "It's irritating."

Young Link and Link looked at each other and nodded. They grinned as they got on one knee and bowed at Zelda's feet. "As you wish, Princess."

Zelda grew angry. "And you have to stop doing that!"

Link and Young Link snickered. Pichu jumped onto Young Link's head and Pikachu jumped on Link's shoulder as they got up. Zelda went to get her shoes. She put them on and headed out the door. The group of five walked down the hallway.

Pikachu look to his left. "Hey, let's take the elevator!" Pikachu received many glares. "Sorry."

Zelda lightened up on him. "It's okay, Pikachu. But I've have had it with elevators for one day."

The group headed down the stairs and soon down the street to finally have some fun.

**A/N: And that is it for now. Not much this chapter but I won't let you down next chapter. We are coming down to the last chapters of this story soon. Please Review!**


	9. A Friendship Slowly Dying

**Hey I'm back and this is the fastest I've done a chapter after I just pasted one. Yay me! Still need to work on my timing though. I'm working on a goal. It's to reach 100 reviews. So I need your guy's help! Please help my dream. Here's the next chapter.**

**Chapter 9**

**A Friendship Slowly Dying**

The day went fast for the five friends. They had made it to a diner and had a good lunch. They saw a magic show that was on the street. Young Link was in a disappearing act that was really good and Pichu helped pull a rabbit out of a hat and because she was so cute, she got a bear that was super big. They went to the movies next and saw about three movies by sneaking into two of them. They were now on their way back to the resort.

Link was carrying the large bear on his shoulders. "You just had to be a volunteer didn't you Pichu?"

Pichu smiled in response. Link rolled his eyes and continued to slug up the street with the heavy load on his back. Zelda was up ahead holding a sleeping Pikachu in her arms. Pikachu had gone to a small shop and got a chocolate milkshake. After he drank it, it was a funny sight. Pikachu was talking super fast and was bouncing off the walls…literally. His sugar rush had finally ended and he went to sleep. The five came to a park and stopped because Young Link requested it so they can go on the play equipment. While Pikachu, Young Link, and Pichu went to go play, Link and Zelda sat down on a close-by bench to watch them.

Zelda was staring at her hands horrified. They weren't the same soft hands she used to have. They were now darker and a few burn marks that were starting to form into sores. She turned her head away to avoid looking.

"Zelda…"

Zelda looked to see Link looking at her. "I need to know."

"Know what?" she responded to his comment.

"It's about Veronica."

Zelda felt her heart skip a beat. What did he want to know about her? And on top of that, why was he asking her about Veronica?

"What about her?"

"Well, it's actually about both of you. I'm just wondering if something is going on with you two."

"…" Zelda couldn't respond to that. Of course something was going on but she was risking her smasher life if she told.

Link eyed her closely. "Well?"

"Link there is nothing wrong with us two. She just chooses not to talk to me for some mysterious reason." She lied which was something she rarely ever did.

"That's weird, Veronica said the same thing to me when I talked to her this morning. She said you and Samus disliked her and wouldn't ever talk to her."

_What a filthy liar! I can't believe she is getting Link to believe her! _Zelda felt her anger boiling but she kept it to herself. "Link I'm sure that that's not even true. Veronica says a lot of things. I mean maybe she's the problem."

Link raised an eyebrow. " What do you mean? As long as I've talked to her she's been a good friend. Are you sure that you're right?"

Right after Link said that last sentence he regretted it. Zelda had got up quickly and turned to glare at him. "So, what I say isn't true? Just because Veronica is so kind to you I don't stand a chance in making you think she's the problem? I mean you've known me for a while too."

Link stood up too. "Zelda, it's just that every time I see you two together she's being nice to you but you never respond to her kindness. The other day she told me how much she liked you but she was upset that you treat her bad."

"I treat her bad?" Zelda looked at Link in disbelief. "You really are clueless, Link! She is getting her claws in your skin real deep!"

"Zelda, I'm just going by what I see-

"Exactly… by what you see! Nothing else! Oh yes, and let's not forget you go by what Veronica says. Because every little adorable word that comes out of her mouth is golden and true!" Zelda said sarcastically.

Never in Zelda's life would she imagine being mad at Link, but he was pushing her over the edge. Why would he believe Veronica instead of her? What had happened between them? Veronica was really succeeding.

"Just open up to her, Zel. She just wants to be friends."

"No, Link. I wanted to be friends with her! She started all of this when she…" Zelda stopped. She wasn't sure about telling him when she threatened her. She thought that maybe Veronica might turn it on her or something. "When she always tried to hurt me."

Link stepped back when she said that. He was quiet for a moment. "She did that? Are you even sure?"

"Here we go again! Link, I'm not lying to you, why don't you believe me? I would never try to lie to you."

"It's just hard to believe you."

Zelda was about to respond but Young Link, Pikachu, and Pichu had came running back. They weren't smiling. They were looking panicky because they had seen the two argue.

Zelda didn't care the least bit. "Link, I thought I was one of your close friends."

"You are! But even though that is true we barely got to know each other that much. It's almost like we're just acquaintances."

"Well, you don't know Veronica either and yet you live on every little lie that comes out of her mouth!"

Link got in Zelda's face. "I know more about her than you think! In fact, I know her better than I know you!"

Young Link couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't like Zelda and Link fighting. Zelda and Link were like a big part to his life, like a mom and dad. Watching them fight was like watching a mom and dad arguing soon to break up. He ran up to them and tried to separate them.

"You guys, stop arguing! You two are supposed to be friends. Ones I care about it!" Young Link cried.

Zelda looked down at Young Link. He had tears welling up in his big blue eyes. Zelda felt tears coming in her eyes too. She sighed and knelt down next to Young Link. Her anger started to drift away. She wrapped her arms around the Young Hylian. "I'm sorry to see you cry Young Link."

Link was looking down at the two. He felt so ashamed for yelling at Zelda and now he had upset Young Link. When he looked over at Pikachu he had a shocked look on his face and Pichu was scared.

"Link."

Link looked at Zelda stand up. She turned to him. "Who do you believe?"

"What?"

"I want to know, Link. Between me and her, who do you think is telling the truth?" Zelda said slowly and almost in a whisper.

Link pondered her question. Throughout that argument he kept saying that Veronica was telling and truth and not for one second believed Zelda. He said he knew Veronica but maybe he didn't know her that well. But it was the same answer for Zelda. Who to believe, he was no longer sure. Zelda felt more sadness growing in her heart as she realized he was having trouble coming up with an answer. Zelda couldn't stay any longer. She used Farore's Wind and started to teleport away.

Link tried to stop her. "Zelda wait I-

It was too late. Zelda was gone in a flash. Link looked at the empty space where she once stood. Young Link had crossed his legs and sat down on the ground in tears.

"Why did you guys have to fight?" Young Link sobbed.

Link kneeled down next to his younger self and placed an arm around him. He wished he could answer but he wasn't sure why they fought either. They were slowly falling apart.

**Unknown Place**

Zelda had teleported somewhere unknown to her. She couldn't concentrate on teleporting to the Resort so she ended up somewhere else. It looked like an old run down place though. There were a few houses but mostly it was ocean out there. She found herself walking around the town. There were kids outside playing still and their parents were watching them. Some people were out in the ocean fishing or swimming in the water. Zelda found a bridge while she was. It was old and raggedy with some holes in it and it was high off the ground. She didn't want to cross it so she used her magic to teleport to the other side. She didn't quite reach the end but just a few more steps to the other side. She sighed and slowly walked across. She took one little step after another. Going slowly was starting to make her even more nervous.

_I just got to run across. _Zelda tried to run the rest of the way, but when closing in on the last step, one of the wooden boards broke through taking Zelda with it.

Zelda screamed as she fell through. "Oh no!"

When she was falling she saw a tree branch and stretched out her hands. She grabbed the branch and stopped herself from falling. Zelda watched the board fall into the water below her. She sighed. Today was just not her day. She used her upper body strength to pull herself onto the branch. She managed to get on top of it and sat down. She panted heavily and placed her hand on her chest. She looked down below and watched the water carry the board down the stream. Zelda started to think about Link again._ Link. He does not like me like he used to. We're not even talking to each other the way we use to. He would always tell me about his adventures and I would laugh at some of his stories. _

"Why can't things go back to the way they were?" Zelda hugged her knees together.

"Roy, you cannot even begin to think about what kind of havoc you put us through!" a male voice said.

Zelda's ears picked up on a distant familiar voice. Another voice spoke.

"We wasted the whole day looking for you!" a female voice said.

Zelda raised her head and looked up. She knew who it was. Soon, she heard the voices walking on the bridge in the same direction she was. She pressed the button on her pink wrist communicator. "Samus?"

There was a long silence before she answered. _Zelda? Hey! Where are you?_

Zelda sighed. "Closer than you think."

_Really, how close?_

"You see that hole in the floor boards?"

There was a silence. Zelda listened to them walk even further down the bridge and stopped.

_I see it now. Where are you?_

"Look down Sam."

Sure enough, Zelda saw Samus poke her head through the board.

"Zelda, how did you get down there?" she asked.

"Long story." Zelda replied.

Zelda saw Marth's and Roy's heads next. Marth cocked his head to the side. "This is an awkward place to be Zelda."

"Yes I know. Now can I get some help?" Zelda asked nicely.

After a few minutes Marth made his way down there and got Zelda. The two climbed back up and Samus and Roy helped pull them out.

Samus looked at Zelda. "Now I bet there's a great story behind all this?"

Zelda nodded.

Roy looked up at the sky. "We can talk about it later it's already dark outside."

Samus gave Zelda a hand and helped her up. "Okay, you know we got to take a ferry to get back."

"I teleported that far?" Zelda asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, we're at an island just a little bit off from the town." Marth pointed out to the ocean where there were many illuminated lights. There were small formations of buildings. "That's where the town is."

"How come you all are all the way over here?"

Samus' eyes darted over to Roy. "Hmm…" she said angrily.

Marth lightly laughed. "We had to go find Roy. And he was over here discovering some… things to take home as souvenirs." He chose his last words carefully. "And we were now heading back."

"He wasted our whole day. Well, let's head back" Samus said as she and everyone else started to walk across the bridge again.

The quartette walked through a grassy field for a while. It was about 11:30 PM, when they were crossing through it. Crickets were chirping and frogs croaked. By the time they were at the ferry it started getting cold. They paid for their tickets and got on. The four went and sat at the front of the boat. Roy and Marth left Samus and Zelda for a moment to go talk. Meanwhile, Zelda told Samus about the fire and the argument with Link.

Samus was looking out at the town coming into view. "I just can't believe you two argued. Did you tell him what Veronica had done?"

Zelda shook her head. She grabbed her shoulders and hugged them. Samus found a blanket and put it over Zelda's shoulders. "Here."

Zelda took it gently. "Thank you. But sit down so we can share."

Samus obeyed her and sat down. She took one edge of the blanket and wrapped it around her left shoulder. "It is cold."

The girls sat in silence for a moment. But silence was interrupted by a beeping noise. Zelda's wrist communicator was beeping. She looked at it and it showed the name "Link" on it. Zelda continued to stare at it.

Samus looked at Zelda. "Are you going to…"

Zelda pressed a button on the communicator and the beeping stopped. She placed her hand back under the blanket. Samus grabbed her hand. "It's going to be okay Zelda. I just know it."

Zelda looked at Samus' green eyes of confidence. Zelda started to cry again on Samus' shoulder and Samus squeezed her hand. Zelda really loved having Samus as her best friend. She may have a cocky attitude most of the time but when it came to her friends Samus was always there for them and Zelda. If Samus said it was going to be all right then Zelda knew just somehow everything would clear up brightly.

**Nintendo Resort**

**Link and Young Link's Room**

Link dropped his wrist communicator on the ground. He knew in his heart that Zelda was not going to answer. She was still angry at Link. Link remembered her sad, sapphire blue eyes filled with tears when he didn't answer her question. Link looked next to him. Young Link was fast asleep in bed. He ran up to his room as soon as Link and him returned to the hotel. He said his good-byes to the pokemon and remained in the room for the rest of the night. When Link went to the room Young Link didn't acknowledge him.

Link took Young Link's hat off, letting his blonde hair fall down by his ears. He pushed the blonde hair out of his face. Young Link always liked Link watching over and taking care of him. They had fully adopted the idea of being brothers. Young Link loved it when Link called him little brother because he never had someone to call family just like Link since they are the same person. So, Link knew how Young Link felt when he saw him and Zelda fight. They were like parents to him.

Link went over to his bed. He didn't feel like taking off his tunic either. He just removed his hat and weapons and got into his bed. He slowly drifted off to sleep.

**About half an hour later…**

It was real late when they returned to town. It was about a little after 12AM. They didn't realize the ferry ride would be so long. They ran down the street in a hurry back to the resort. Minutes had passed as they ran up the long streets. Samus and Marth were way up ahead. Zelda had grabbed on to Roy's hand since him being a fast runner could help Zelda out since she was in her dress and heels.

"We are really late. What's the punishment for past curfew, Sam?" Roy asked as the Resort came into view.

"Well… he banned us from a few things. Like fighting and free time." Samus said while panting.

"That can't be good." Zelda said quietly gripping Roy's hand tighter. "It's only the second day and we can already get in trouble."

"That's only if we get caught, Zel. I'm sure we can sneak in somewhere." Marth said as they finally came to the last long street.

They ran up the last street in seconds. When they finally reached the Resort they ran behind a tall tree and started to rest. Samus almost fell back but held her feet firm. Zelda and Roy collapsed to the ground to catch their breath. Marth stood, panting while keeping an eye on the hotel to make sure no one was there watching.

"I feel… like I ran… a marathon." Roy said slowly through his breaths.

"At least you're not wearing heels." Zelda commented.

"Guys, we can go through the front. No one is there." Marth pointed out when he looked at the entrance of the Resort.

"So, maybe there is a chance." Samus concluded. "We're gonna have to be really quiet to pull this one off. "

The four got up and quickly and quietly walked up towards the concrete. Marth stopped them all. His cobalt blue eyes looked at Zelda. "Zelda, take your heels off. It'll make a clicking noise."

"I think we all should take out shoes off. " Roy said while now removing his boots.

Samus and Marth followed in suit. As soon as the shoes were off they walked onto the concrete and to the door. Zelda pushed open the door quietly. They crowded into the room silently and closed the door without a sound. The room was practically pitch black.

"A little light would help this dark situation. " Zelda made the power of Din's Fire grow from her finger.

"Good idea, Z." Samus whispered.

The four crept through the Hotel, following Zelda's light. She shined her light on the elevator. "Should we take it?"

"No, it will make that dinging noise when we reach the top floor. Most likely waking up everyone in the whole building." Marth figured out.

Roy looked in front of him. "The stairs are right here, let's climb them."

They crept up the stairs slowly. Samus sighed as they continued to walk up the stairs. "I think we might be able to pull this off."

"Yeah, maybe we…" Roy stopped in mid-sentence when he saw light flash on the wall. The others had not seen it.

Seeing that Zelda was the one with the light, he pulled her back. She made a small yelp and turned around. "What?" she hissed.

"There's a light flashing down the stairs." Roy said still looking up the stairs.

Samus heard footsteps coming down in the direction they were going. "Stop the Din's Fire, Zelda," she whispered.

Samus watched the light go out. She started to walk back but Marth grabbed her hand.

"We can't go back. He'll hear our footsteps." Marth said as the footsteps came closer.

An idea popped in Zelda's hand. "Hey, grab onto my hands. I have an idea." Zelda held out her hand and a rough hand grabbed hers. "Is everyone linked?"

"Yes." Roy, Marth, and Samus said in unison.

Zelda concentrated and used for Farore's wind to teleport them off the stairs. They succeeded and they were on their top floor. There wasn't a soul outside. All lights were off in each room.

Roy smiled. "Whew...we're home free."

Samus was going to agree but she looked to her left and saw a dark figure in the dark. It was near a lever. Samus watched as it pulled the lever down. Suddenly a loud ear-splitting alarm went off. It blasted loud in all of their ears. The four of them grabbed their ears in pain. It was the fire alarm but there was no fire. Nonetheless, the water sprinklers above them came on. Drenching them in a rainy situation.

"Aww. My dress is all wet." Zelda said when she held some in her hands.

Marth's blue hair had stuck to his face. He pushed some of it away. "This is just wonderful." He said sarcastically. "Let's head to our-"

"No, we can't do it that way. Zelda, teleport us into their room, okay?" Samus interrupted.

Zelda tried to ask why. "But…"

"Just do it!" Samus demanded.

Zelda did what she said in a hurry. In a matter of milliseconds they were in Marth and Roy's room. As soon as they were in the room. Everyone turned to Samus.

"Why couldn't we go to our room through the front door?" Roy asked Samus.

"There is tape on our doors." Samus said while brushing her wet hair back.

"So what does that have to do with anything?" Zelda asked.

"It was right over where the door opened. If we had opened the door the tape would have torn. Then if Master Hand would have checked our rooms he would have known some people were out past curfew."

"Oh." They all said at the same time.

Marth walked over to Samus and gave her a small kiss on her cheek. "Sweet dreams, Sam."

Roy groaned and crossed his arms as he saw Samus smile at Marth's kind words. "Please. You'll see each other in the morning. I think you can spare one kiss, so Zelda and I don't have to be tortured."

Zelda couldn't help but agree with Roy even if it was romantic. Zelda grabbed Samus' hand. "We'll see you guys in the morning."They teleported out of the room as Marth and Roy said their good nights. When they appeared again they were back in their room. Zelda listened to the alarms shut off. There were some voices outside. Mainly Master Hand and someone else.

"That was too close." Zelda said quietly.

"I'll say."

They were only safe for a few minutes and then there was a knock at the door. "Samus, Zelda, open the door."

"Oh no, it's Master Hand." Samus whispered.

"What do we do?" Zelda asked.

"Go put your robe on and get mine out of the closet." Samus told her quickly and quietly.

"You two open this door!" Master Hand commanded as his hand continued to boom on the door.

"Just a minute. I'm not decent." Samus said. Zelda put her robe on and went inside the closet. She found Samus' robe and tossed it over to Samus.

Samus made a grab for it and caught it. She mouthed "thanks" as she put it on.

Zelda pulled her hair down and jumped into her bed She got under the covers and positioned herself in a sleeping position.

"ZELDA HARKINIAN AND SAMUS ARAN, OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW!""

Samus pulled her hair down and took a deep breath. She opened the door and gave Master Hand a fake 'I was sleeping look.' Sorry, you know. I was sleeping."

"Samus, answer the door when I tell you to." Master Hand said angrily. He watched Samus nod in agreement. He saw Zelda in the bed slightly sitting up to look at the door. "Zelda, can you come to the door please?"

Zelda fake yawned and stretched as she went to the door to act like she was really asleep. "What is it Master Hand?"

Zelda looked behind him and saw everyone else was out of bed and in the hallway, including the swordsmen they just left. Marth and Roy had changed quickly to nightclothes. Roy had red sweats with white sleeveless muscle shirt. Marth's wore blue sweats and a black shirt.

The other smashers were looking sleepy. Master Hand spoke again. "I need to talk to you two. Marth and Roy, you guys come too."

Master Hand started to float down the hallway. Zelda and Samus looked at each other before going out the door. As they walked past Marth and Roy, they followed right behind them. When Zelda walked towards where Link was, their eyes met. His eyes were pleading for her to talk to him. Zelda slowly looked away in another direction and walked past him. She didn't want to look at his hurt look. They followed Master Hand past a lot of the smashers' room before they reached a large one. When they went inside they looked at the large room. There was another door that probably lead to a bedroom, but Master Hand stopped them as soon as they got inside because the first room was his office. There were 27 chairs there in front of his desk just like the meeting room at the SSBM mansion.

"Have a seat in the first four seats close to my desk please, smashers." Master Hand said calmly.

Roy and Samus sat in chairs on the left side of the desk and Marth and Zelda sat on the right side of the desk. Master Hand floated at the head of the table and looked at them all. There was a long silence before he spoke.

"Now I was told some information about you four." M.H checked if they were paying attention. Zelda was looking straight at him. Samus and Marth were both were staring out in space. And Roy was picking at his fingernail. But this was typical for the pyro. He had a short attention span. He continued. "I was told by someone who wishes not to be named that they saw you four out past curfew."

Master Hand looked for any reactions to what he said. But everyone looked fine and hadn't reacted in shock or anything. "Anyone want to own up on it?"

Marth stood up for the group. "We got here on time. Around like um…"

"10:15." Samus cut in. "Yes, we were back at about that time."

"Really?" Master Hand watched them all nod. "Then answer me this. Someone pulled the alarm because they saw four kids in the hallway. Which also set off the ceiling sprinklers and from looking at each of your guys' hair… it's wet."

Zelda felt her hair still dripping down her neck. "Well, Master Hand, with all due respect, I must say that that doesn't really help prove that we were outside past curfew."

"Yes. We went to a lot of places by the ocean." Samus commented.

"Yes, we went to the bay today and went swimming. And we went on a ferry that was slopping water everywhere on our way home at about 9:45." Roy added.

"So, our hair was still wet. We don't have hair dryers or anything." Samus said while sitting up straighter in her chair.

"Towels don't work fast at drying so my hair was still wet." Marth said.

"It was hot in our room, so I did dump water on my head." Roy said after Marth was done.

"I washed my hair before I went to bed which was pretty late. I'd say about 11:51." Zelda said. "And Samus showered after me."

"Okay, you guys cleared that part up, but what she told me next leaves me still suspicious."

"Hey! You said she!" Samus said. Her emerald green eyes were burning into Master Hand. "There are not that many girls, who told you?"

M.H sighed. "You might as well know. Veronica told me after she left my office from talking to her father."

_How did I know? It was just burning in my mind that she had something to do with this. She's the one I saw in the dark near that alarm._ Samus rolled her eyes in disgust. She looked at Zelda looking at her with her big blue eyes showing she was aggravated with that girl.

"Anyway," Master Hand continued. "She told me the tape was ripped off the doors. And when I went there sure enough no tape on the doors."

_That must have been right when Zelda teleported us in our room. Veronica ripped the tape off. _ Roy thought to himself. "But Master Hand we were in our room." He lied.

Zelda hated this. She never lied this much. "Master Hand we could have been framed."

Marth nodded. "Yes. Anyone could have pulled the tape off. Just to get us in trouble."

Master Hand's large fingers twitched. "I would believe that, Marth. But here's where you guys are caught." The four of them sat up even more tense in their chairs. "Zelda, you did Farore's Wind. There was a green glow outside her room. Veronica told me she saw it. And from what I heard from the other smashers, some said they saw a green glow also."

Zelda slowly moved her eyes around the room. As she looked at every one of them she could tell by their facial expressions that they couldn't think of anything else to back up their story. Zelda sighed.

Master Hand now turned his attention only on Zelda. "Zelda, you were out past curfew. Is this true what I say?"

Zelda gave up. There was nothing she could say to cover it up. "Yes, it is."

Marth stood up. "No, it's not… because I was out there with her."

Roy gripped the table. "I was there too."

Samus sighed and lowered her eyes. "Me also."

Master Hand sighed. "Well, there's nothing I can say but that I'm terribly ashamed of you four. I expected at least two of you to be responsible enough to be on time."

When he said that last sentence, he meant Marth and Zelda. For the short period of time the two have been there they had been responsible and showed respect to his rules. As for Samus and Roy that was a different story. Samus, Link, and Fox before the new smashers arrived were always little 13-year-old troublemakers and Roy had gotten in a lot of trouble with M.H in the short time he had stayed at the SSBM mansion also.

"Now, we're on a holiday. So, I'll let you guys off this time. Just because I'm so generous." Master Hand looked as they all lost tension and slumped in their seats. "But don't let me catch you guys doing it again or there will be consequences the next time. Do you hear me?"

"Yes sir." They all said.

Master Hand sighed. "Okay then. Now head back to your rooms and get some sleep."

**Zelda and Samus' Room**

"We have to get her back, Zel." Samus decided.

"Yes, I know." Zelda said quietly, trying to keep her voice down.

Zelda and Samus didn't go to sleep right as soon as Master Hand told them too. They went and sat down on Zelda's bed to talk. Samus was on her stomach in her orange t-shirt and black shorts with a pillow under her chin. Zelda was sitting cross-legged on the bed with a pillow in her lap with her long pink nightgown on.

"Today just wasn't my day, Samus. So many things happened in one day. The late curfew, and the fall through the bridge."

"At least Veronica wasn't behind the bridge accident." Samus said trying to lighten her up a little.

Zelda paid no attention to her trying to make her feel better. "I guess. Let's not forget the fire and the argument with Link."

Samus placed an elbow on her pillow and place her chin in her hand. "I can't believe you didn't tell him about the fire and all the other things that evil girl did to you."

"I was upset, Sam. When I told him she hurt me, he didn't believe me, so why would he believe that she tried to kill me?" Zelda started to remember the horrible argument. She sighed. "We're drifting away Samus."

"Well, you just got to drift back so Veronica can't win. You love him-"

"That's just it. Veronica has gotten to me so badly that she's making me lean to this decision." Zelda said.

Samus sat up. "What decision?"

Zelda felt a tear run down her cheek. "That I don't love Link anymore."

**A/N: She doesn't love Link anymore? That's not good! Will this clear up? I don't know it's a 50/50 chance. And I have a question. If anyone know Roy's last name can you tell me. I need to know for my next story. Tell me in your review if you can. Anyway please review and I'll get another chapter up as soon as I can. Bye!**


	10. Story of Veronica's Past Revealed

**Hey guys how's life? Mine's boring right now because I'm running out of ideas for future stories. Which reminds me about my Royal Kenya news on my profile page. I have stories typed on it that are in the process of being made. Check it out if you want. No summaries for them yet but maybe later. Oh yeah and some people are asking me do I read the Archie comics because Veronica in this story sounds like the one in the comic and the answer is yes. Except I think the Veronica in the comic is a little bit nicer than the one in this story. She doesn't go around trying to kill Betty like Veronica tries to do to Zelda in this story. And I also have to say one more thing, reviewers you make me laugh. Do you really want Veronica to die that badly? **

**Hmm... I'll see what I can do. On with the story and this chapter is a bit shorter than the others.**

**Chapter 10**

**Story of Veronica's Past Revealed**

_Zelda…wake up._

Zelda winced at the sound of her name, but she continued to lie in her bed.

_We need to talk, Zelda. Get up!_

Hearing the voice again, Zelda groaned as she got up. Her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness of her room. She looked out the window and realized someone was outside.

"Is that who I think it is?"

Zelda forced herself out of her comfortable bed and placed her feet on the cushioned floor. Her head drooped as she tried to stand up. The room was silent except for the sound of the soft air conditioner. She walked through the room slowly toward the balcony door. She made it to the door but not without ramming her leg into the dresser.

After a couple of "ow's", Zelda went out onto the balcony. She peered outside to see Mewtwo outside on the railing again. He was looking out towards the moon, but when he felt Zelda's presence he turned to face her.

Mewtwo's eyes widened for a second but then turned to normal. _You look like you had a rough night._

_I always look like this after a long sleep. It's natural. So what is it?_ Zelda had decided to speak in her mind so she wouldn't disturb her roommate.

_It's about late last night. What exactly happened?_

_Mewtwo I'm so down about the whole thing. I just…_

_You don't want to talk about it?_

Zelda smiled at her pokemon friend._ You read my mind even before the whole sentence came into my mind. _

Mewtwo shook his head. _No. I just knew you were going to say that. _

_Mewtwo I really don't want to talk about it. I'll tell you this much though, it had to do with Veronica again. I can't handle this Mewtwo. I have to get her back somehow!  
__  
Zelda I have to tell you this. It may not be too bright to try to pay Veronica back with revenge. Something could happen._

_Why shouldn't I Mewtwo? She is the worst person in the world. She makes Ganondorf look like a saint! She is evil and she made me lose my friendship with Link._

_She may be bad. But sometimes you got to let these things go. When you get revenge sometimes the person will strike back and may not just take you down, but your friends also. That would put you on the guilt trip._

Zelda just stared at Mewtwo. She stared to speak. "Just yesterday you were agreeing with me about how Veronica needed to be taught a lesson."

"No I didn't. All I said was how she was an evil girl. Never anything about vengeance."

Zelda wasn't really sure he had said that either. She only said it because she was a little confused on why he didn't agree with her. "Okay maybe you didn't. But I still have to do something. I just have to think of what to do."

Mewtwo gave her a long stare before responding. "I won't stop you. It was just advice. But be careful. She seems like she always has a trick up her sleeve. I will be heading back to my room now."

He left without a last good-bye.

Zelda rubbed her chin. She didn't know whether to take Mewtwo's advice to heart or not. Was he right?

**Master Hand's Room**

When morning came, Master Hand had called all the smashers to his room for a meeting. The smashers piled into his room and drew up conversations amongst themselves.

Link was the only one silent. He didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment. All he wanted to do was sit at the table, listen to whatever dumb thing Master Hand had planned for them today, and then go off and be alone. He was in a troubled mood. He really had hurt Zelda yesterday and now she wasn't speaking to him. He knew that somewhere in his heart he knew the answer to the question Zelda asked him yesterday. He just didn't answer the question. Why? He did not know. Link slammed his head against the table and didn't budge.

"That looked like it hurt."

Link slightly turned his head to the side to see that Luigi had taken a seat next to him. "You look real down my friend. Willing to share your thoughts?"

"Well, let's just say you were right Luigi. Girls do get jealous easily and then get mad at you." Link muffled from his mouth since his head was down.

"So, you got someone upset then. Let me guess… Zelda."

"That would be correct."

"I thought so. I mean I don't think you would be this much depressed if it were Veronica. There's something different between the two."

Link finally lifted his head. "Like what?"

Luigi leaned over next to Link. "Well, Veronica and you are more described as buddies and Zelda is not. To me, you treat her like you used to treat Samus." He whispered.

"And how was that?" Link asked.

"Like a little sister. You protect her and Zelda all the time and they look to you as an older brother to always have their back and they could look to you knowing that you will always be their friend. Just like my big bro Mario… always can count on him."

Link looked behind Luigi. "Speak of the devil."

"Hey Luigi…"

"Hey bro, so where are my gloves?"

"Eh heh heh… um Yeah about them. Well…" Mario pulled out Luigi's gloves from his pocket.

"YOU SHRUNK MY FAVORITE GLOVES!" Luigi exclaimed.

"IT'S NOT LIKE YOU NEVER EVER DESTROYED ANYTHING OF MINE. WHAT ABOUT MY OLD RED HAT?"

"THAT WAS CLEANED EASILY. YOU CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THOSE GLOVES THOUGH."

"Look I'm sorry I'll buy you some new one. In the meantime, Chillax!" Mario nodded to Link and then left.

Link lowered his eyes and smirked at his green companion. "I thought he always was there for you and you two got along great."

"We do. See this smiling face." Luigi grinned widely. "See? Happiness no anger here."

Link turned from him and he heard Luigi muttered something under his breath not suitable to be heard. After a few calming breaths, Luigi spoke again. "But where I was going with that statement was the people you protect and never let down and they do the same for you in return are a good match for a couple. And I think you know someone who would never let you down."

"Yes, I know that. But it keeps changing on me. So I'm still stuck." Link replied.

"No, you're not. You know what to do." Luigi said and he left the conversation at that.

Master Hand got the attention of the room. "Smashers, today we have things to do. So there will be no free time on your own."

There were some groans coming from the room. He ignored them and continued. "Anyway we will be leaving around 10:00AM to an island called Serine Isle. They want to meet us in person and then we will have matches, plus some autograph signing, and maybe you may get a buddy to follow you around all day."

Captain Falcon looked up right away. "When you say a buddy, you mean like some girl or boy who gets to hang out with us all day right?"

M.H answered quickly. "Yes that's right."

"So you mean it can even be sexy and attractive gir-

M.H cut him off. "Falcon, the boys and _girls_ are no higher then the age of twelve."

"Age doesn't matter to me…" Falcon muttered.

Peach who sat across from him glared at him. "I heard that Falcon and you're so sick!"

"Hope I don't get any girls like you." He snapped back. Peach replied by sticking her tongue out at him.

"Like I said they will be no higher then the age of twelve. And let me tell you ahead of time Falcon, that you can count on you only getting a boy buddy because I arranged it to happen." M.H responded to his comment.

Ganondorf raised his hand.

Master Hand looked his way. "Yes, Ganondorf."

"I have a problem with this kid following you around all day thing. I don't like kids. I mean I really loathe little kids. I kick little kids."

Bowser raised his hand also. "Me too!"

"I figured this much. So you two may just have to sign autographs all day." Master Hand replied to their confessions.

"Autographs for little kids. It's just as if we still are being nice to little kids. I mean come on you don't want me to ruin my rep. I mean I'm the Evil Gerudo King that everyone fears. Look how I treat the young ones here."

"Look you got to do one of the two kid activities or both like everyone else is going to do." Master Hand floated over to the side of his desk.

"Fine. Autographs will do." Bowser said.

Pichu raised her hand next.

"Yes Pichu." M.H said.

"Pichu pi. Pichu pi, chu pichu chu. Pichu, pichu, pi. Chu pi, pichu. Pichu?"

Everyone stared at Pichu for a moment. Then they turned to Pikachu and Mewtwo to see which one would translate what she said.

Mewtwo spoke. "She said, Master Hand, I have a hunch that the little kids might get a little crazy when they see us. And personally I'm scared. So here's my question. Do we have some security or something?"

"Pichu, these people are not crazed fanatics or anything. They are well-mannered and under control."

Pikachu translated. "Pika, pikachu. Pika Pika pi."

Pichu nodded. "Pi."

Master Hand guessed that that meant 'okay'. Master Hand went on for minutes talking about what they were going to do that day. By the time they were done they only had two hours of free time left. Everyone hurried out of the room.

Peach looked around in the hallway till she spotted who she was looking for. "Hey, Zellie!"

Zelda turned around to the sound of her name. "Hey, Peach. What's up?"

"Nothing really. I just wanted to give you this." Peach looked in her purse and pulled out a small blue and white bottle. She held it out for Zelda to take.

Zelda took it out of her hand. "What is it?"

"It's an ointment. You know, for your burned hands. It will help clear up the sores and return your hands to smoothness." Peach zipped her purse back up.

Zelda gripped the bottle tightly and smiled at Peach. "Thanks, Peach. Good looking out."

"Uh-huh. I just feel so bad that Veronica did that to you. I never realized she was so mean," Peach said quietly.

"Yes, she can be a little…" Zelda stopped in mid-sentence and stopped walking. She looked over at Peach.

Peach looked at Zelda's weird stare. "What?"

"Peach? How did you know Veronica did that to me?" Zelda asked.

"Oh that? I found something while cleaning the room. It was her diary and it spilled out everything." Peach explained. "It told me everything. And did you know she thinks of me as a dumb blonde? Me? Dumb? Heh, can you imagine?"

Peach looked at Zelda for a response. Zelda saw her looking at her and nervously laughed. "Well… sort of."

"Zel!" Peach exclaimed.

"What? I mean you're not always like that. Honest."

Peach ignored her response. "And she is such a bragger about everything she does. Always about her trips and everything she owns. I mean who does that?"

Zelda didn't know whether to respond "You do Peach" or to not respond about it at all. She chose the second choice. "Yes… who does that?"

"But hey, she's a troubled person. You have got to see what she writes in her journal." Peach said as they continued to walk again. "I got it! Come to my room right now."

"But won't Veronica be there?" Zelda asked.

"No, she will be nowhere in sight. She went to the mall to go shopping. And believe me she shops for hours." Peach told her.

Zelda thought about her offer. _This may help me prove my point about her. _"Well…okay. I just hope she doesn't come back earlier than expected."

The two girls hurried down the hallway to Peach's room. Peach pulled out a pink keycard and opened the door. She let Zelda in first. The room was just like Zelda and Samus's room except the two colors in the room were pink and green. She guessed the pink was Peach and the Veronica had the green.

_She probably didn't like green until she met Link._ Zelda thought as Peach closed the door. She watched as Peach went to Veronica' s canopy bed and went to the top left leg of the bed. She fiddled with the drape on the bed leg and pulled out a small, purple book.

"Here it is." Peach walked over to Zelda who was sitting on Peach's bed. She handed it to her Hylian friend. "Read away."

Zelda stared at the book. It was time to figure out Veronica and what she was all about.

She opened the book to the first page.

_**It's so good to be back home again. I've been away from home for so long I thought I would never return again. I was at a shrink's home for practically a whole year. They said it was for the best if I stayed there. They said that the shrink would help me with my problems. I don't quite understand that part. I don't have any problems. At least I think so. They sent me there because of what happened to my best friend Katy. Katy was killed in a hiking accident. **_

_**Well, you see we were at summer camp two summers ago. We were having a good time too. We had fun swimming, doing art, singing campfire songs and all that other stuff. And we even made some new friends and met a really cute guy. His name was Curtis. He had blonde hair and the most amazing ocean blue eyes. I could've just drowned in them. Well, Katy liked him too. And we both tried to get his attention. He noticed both of us but he treated us both the same. He was so sweet to both of us. Well I didn't like that he couldn't choose between the two of us and Katy didn't either. So, this crush sort of short-circuited our friendship. We would fight over him all the time and he thought it was such an entertaining game. **_

_**Anyway, one day we went hiking and Katy pulled me aside away from the group to tell me to leave Curtis alone because he was hers. I told her "No he isn't". But then she said it was too late to try to win his heart and then she told me something that horrified me. She said that she had went on a date with him and he asked her to be his girlfriend and she accepted. I couldn't believe it and then she had the nerve to ask me to still be friends with her. It ticked me off so much that I knocked her down. She was shocked at first but then she fought back. We kept fighting so close to the edge of the cliff. I was so angry I wasn't realizing what I was doing. I pushed her off the cliff. But she grabbed me in the process and we both started to fall. I was lucky to grab a rock hanging out on the side of the cliff but the Katy wasn't so lucky. Katy plunged to her death. Her scream echoes in my head remembering that day. The police came and they closed up the camp. While I was over by the archery field I thought about Katy. Archery was the one thing we always did together. Curtis had found me there and tried to comfort me but for some reason I didn't take it to liking. I pushed him to the ground and saw some spare arrows on the ground. I picked one up and plunged it right into Curtis's shoulder. Curtis screamed so loud that everyone heard it. I was going to silence him for good with another arrow but a police officer grabbed my hand and stopped me from doing so. And then that's what cued the shrink. I still thought I didn't have a problem at all. It was just anger. I mean after that I never had an anger spark ever in my bone. And to this day I still don't. But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm free again and I have been doing well. Part of my practices to calm me down is to write down in this book about what's been going on everyday of my life. I think I can accomplish this easily. So I hope this will be a success. I'll write more later.**_

Peach interrupted Zelda. She was looking out her window. "Zelda, you got to stop reading. Veronica's here."

Zelda didn't want to stop. "But…"

"Do you want to get caught?" Peach asked her.

While shaking her head, Zelda closed the book. Peach took it from her and put it back in its hiding place. "You can read more tomorrow maybe."

Zelda nodded and got up. "Okay then. Thanks Peach."

Peach smiled. "No problem, I'll see you later on the bus."

Zelda hurried out the door. Sure enough not too far down the hallway she saw Veronica heading her way.

_Lucky for me, my room is just two rooms down and I won't have to pass her._ Zelda walked to her room and opened the door just before Veronica could get there. She went inside and shut the door. She was by herself. She took a deep breath and then exhaled. She couldn't believe what she had just read. She just couldn't even imagine.

_Veronica really does have problems. It's sad in one-way, but in another way it's scary. I mean she could really cut loose like she did back in the past. And if I'm not careful, I could be the next death written in her diary._

**A/N: And that's chapter 10. I know it's shorter than how much I usually write but it's irritating sometimes to write for a big old long time. Review please and I'll make it longer next chapter. Until then Bye!**


	11. Serine Isle Part I

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long. I had writer's block and I had other important things to do. But I'm back. Here's the next chapter served up on a silver platter.**

**Chapter 11**

**Serine Isle Part I**

The arrival to the town of Serine Isle was very welcoming. There was a large welcome committee there that gave the smashers the red carpet treatment. Some people were throwing confetti and had some party poppers being popped. There were people shouting out the smashers names and there were a lot of little kids. They were acting hyper active. The first things that were up were the matches. Master Hand only picked twelve of the smashers to do a match. He chose Roy, DK, Peach, Mario, Yoshi, Ganondorf, Bowser, Ness, Samus, Kirby, Pikachu, and Falco. While they had their matches the others sat in a booth given to them by the people of the town.

Zelda kept her eyes on the match. She didn't have anyone she wanted to talk to since Samus and Peach were both in the matches. She watched Falco and Roy fight each other on the battlefield. The fans were chanting their name as they fought, there were signs made with their favorite character on them. There were shirts with some of the smashers on it and some people even dressed in outfits like them. Most of the fans had Mario signs and t-shirts. Most girls had the Princesses'outfits but most of them were for Peach. The teenage girls that were about Zelda's age were all in one cluster cheering for the swordsman saying how they were cute and all. Some fans who were animals were cheering for Fox and Falco even when they weren't in a match.

When they first arrived on the island they realized that the fans weren't as controlled over their emotions as Master Hand said they were. At least the older kids weren't anyway. They gave them an island welcome and then gave them a tour of the small island and showed them some interesting things about the island.

The tournament was almost over. Roy and Falco were the last competitors. But their match had gone on for so long that Zelda started to stare off into space.

_This is so boring. If he was going to have matches he should have put us all in them so we could do something. I'm so bored out of my mind._ Her blue eyes looked to the left to see Link not too far away from her. He was by himself. No Veronica in sight. _I could… no! What am I thinking? I can't talk to him right now. I'm still not sure if I can speak to him about anything. Maybe about what I read in Veronica's diary? Nah…he would get into this whole you shouldn't be reading her diary stuff and that I need to be nice to her. I'm having a very unpleasant vacation. And my birthday is in two days. I wonder if I'm going to have an unpleasant birthday surprise._

"And the winner is … FALCO!"

Zelda broke away from her thoughts to look down at the arena. Falco had won the tournament and people were already down there congratulating him. Even the smashers had left to see him. Zelda noticed Link was still there and still by himself.

_I guess it couldn't hurt to talk to him. _Zelda took a deep breath and got up from her seat.

Meanwhile Link sighed deeply again. He knew he had done that a couple thousand times. He was wondering what he would do. Right now more than ever he wanted Zelda to talk to him.

"Hello, Link."

Link looked up to see Zelda looking down at him. "Um… hi Zel."

They stared at each other for a moment before Zelda spoke again. "May I sit down?"

"Sure… if you want to. It's your decision."

"Thank you." Zelda slowly sat down next to him. She sat straight up._ Okay I'm here. So what I'm going to say now?_

"Zelda, are you still mad at me?" Link asked.

"Mad?" Zelda echoed._ Of course I'm still mad at you, you jerk. You never believe what I say anymore. And I'll never forgive you. _"No, I guess not. I mean I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

Link continued to look out to the arena. _Well, even you're not mad you don't have to add the sassiness to your voice._ "I was hoping you weren't. Because even though I really don't like that you dislike Veronica …"

Unknowable with Link, Zelda rolled her eyes. _Here we go again. _"Link, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'll say no more. I just want us to continue being friends. I can't stand us not talking."

_I can't either. Wait... yes, I can. _"Feeling's mutual."

Link finally looked back at her. "So, friends again?"

Zelda looked at him for a second. _No. Not ever again. _Zelda gave him a smile. "Link. We never stopped being friends."

Link smiled. "Alrighty then. Now I can ask you."

"Now you can ask me what?"

"If we have some time, wanna just… go for a walk?"

"A walk?"

"Yeah, just the two of us."

_That will never happen. Something will come up and Veronica will probably have something to do with it and we won't have anytime together. I'm saying no. _"Yes, I'm up for it."

Link's face started beaming. "You really want to?"

Zelda hesitated. "Well…I… um…"

_No no NO! I don't want to go anywhere with him. At least I think so… no, I know so. I don't want to have any more confrontations with Link that will ruin my smasher career. I just have to wait till Veronica leaves. And that'll be in seven days when we get back from the trip. I don't think I can wait that long. But I still do want to go... _

"Zel?" Link watched Zelda deep in thought._ I hope she's not reconsidering._

_Maybe nothing bad will happen. Okay, I'll do it. _Zelda nodded. "Without a doubt, Link. I'd love to."

"Okay, then. After everything is done we will go walking."

"Mm-hmm, just the two of us!" Zelda said excitedly. "But we better get down there with Master Hand. I think he's ready to put us to work."

"Yep. Prepare your fingers for the longest time limit of signing autographs." Link reminded her.

"Oh that's right. We are going to do that today." Zelda said as they made their way downstairs to the arena.

**Autograph Signing**

Link watched Falco stressing over and over again.

"Link, my talons are killing me!" Falco groaned.

"Here you go." Link said to another boy he gave an autograph to. He turned to Falco. "Just a little while longer, Falco and it will be over. I thought you would be up for this."

"I was at first. But the kids… they just won't stop coming! AGH! It never ends." Falco continued to sign his name.

"That's the price you pay for winning the whole tournament. Now you get all the praise and glory."

Falco grunted. "Well, if I knew that this would've happened beforehand I would have let Roy win the whole tournament."

Link's blue eyes squinted past the long line of fans and across. "Actually Roy's getting the same treatment. All those rabid fan girls are all over him."

Falco looked up and smirked. "Yeah, but I bet they're wanting much more than any autograph. Fishing for dates with him I bet. He's single so there's nothing wrong with that. Wish I could say the same for Marth though. Girls are all over him but he better handle them or he's going to have a peeved girlfriend."

Link laughed as he finished signing another autograph to a girl around thirteen who was just gaping at Link. But he didn't seem to notice. "Yes and Samus won't be easy to calm down if she found out."

"So… since we're on this subject. When are you going to ask Zelda out?"

Link gasped as he saw kids looking at him. "Falco, keep it on the low down. This is private information."

"Right sorry. Don't want any gossip to get out." Falco said quietly. "Well, are you?" he said a bit quieter with less give-away words.

"I don't know who told you I was going to but I'm not. We're just friends." Link responded. "Who told you that?"

"Fox did."

Link sighed and rolled his eyes. "Typical Fox."

* * *

A kid with wild purple hair went up to Ganondorf. "Sign mine please."

Ganondorf groaned. "Does anyone understand the fact that I don't like kids and I never will?"

The kid laughed. "Man, you're funny."

Bowser, who was listening in on the conversation, finally got in to it. "Look, kid, he's not joking."

A little boy with a red baseball cap smiled at Bowser. "Bowser, you gotta sign my hat."

"HOW 'BOUT I BURN YOU AND YOUR HAT AND EAT YOU BOTH!" Bowser growled. He didn't mean the last part. He didn't eat people.

The kid and Bowser stared at each other for a long time. Then the baseball cap kid started to laugh. "This is why you're the greatest Bowser. Just like Ganon."

"Yeah Ganon's cool!" The purple haired boy said.

Ganondorf and Bowser looked at each other. And they both sighed deeply.

* * *

"Ugh… look at Roy."

Zelda looked over at Roy, who was next to Fox, who was right next to Peach. There were about a hundred of teenagers 13 and up lined up in Roy's line. They kept asking him for a date.

Peach frowned as she kept staring at Roy. "Those girls are all over Roy like little kids attached to ice-cream. It's disgusting. And Roy's sucking all the attention in that big head of his."

A girl with light brown hair approached Roy and was getting really overfriendly with him. Roy kissed her hand after signing an autograph of hers.

Peach gasped. "Just look at her and he's so totally milking her on!"

Zelda looked at her friend. "Why, Peach? Are we getting jealous?"

"Jealous? Me? Over that pyro jerk? No way! I mean come on Zellie why should I be jealous of him when I can't even stand him. It doesn't bother me that Roy has girls gaping at him." Peach turned away from Roy just to prove her point.

Zelda lowered her eyes and smirked. "Sure, it doesn't." she said sarcastically.

Peach noticed her sarcasm. "I'm serious."

Zelda held one finger up. "First step, denial."

"Hey, you can't say that. I taught you that step." Peach retorted.

"Just using what I learned," Zelda said quietly before turning back around. There was a red-haired girl standing at her table. She had light blue eyes and a cute little face. She looked around the age of 8 years old. She was wearing a white shirt with red overalls. Her medium length hair was done in two braids.

Zelda smiled at the girl. "Why hello."

The girl was red in the face. "Hello," she said quietly.

Zelda quietly elicited a giggle. _Aww… she's shy._

A woman, who appeared to be her mother, stood behind her and looked at Zelda. "Sorr,y she's shy. Which is strange because she wasn't like this when we first got in line. She's really excited to meet you. You're her favorite smasher."

"Mom." Kendrix said.

Zelda nodded and looked at the girl and continued to smile at her. "Well, that's nice to know. What's your name?"

"Kendrix Melane." She said sheepishly.

"Kendrix? What a unique and beautiful name."

That comment made Kendrix's face turn the shade of her hair. "Thank you."

Zelda picked up her pink pen and wrote something on the picture. "Here you go, Kendrix. And you should smile. I'm sure you have a beautiful smile."

Kendrix smiled a little and then started to leave. "Bye."

As soon as she was out of sight, her mom spoke to Zelda again. "You'll have to excuse her. We just moved here and she hasn't made any friends yet. She feels that she is different from everyone else so she tries to stray away from kids here."

Zelda felt her heart drop a bit. "Oh I'm sorry. Must be tough on her."

Kendrix's mom looked on sadly. "It's okay. Sooner or later she'll try and make friends." She then looked at Zelda. "I'm sorry. Here I am babbling when you have autographs to sign."

"No. it's okay really. They can wait." Zelda reassured her.

The mother simply shook her head. "No. I won't waste another moment. It as nice meeting you."

And with that she quickly disappeared into the crowd. Zelda couldn't help but feel sad for the mother and her daughter.

Peach looked at Zelda. "That's so sad. No friends at all."

"…" Zelda didn't respond. _The poor girl. She sounds like me. I never made any friends my age. Except Impa and Link later on… but I still felt alone._

After a long writing hour… the smashers were now standing in front of a bunch of kids.

"Okay. I told you what to do. Pick a kid and go have fun." Master Hand reminded the smashers. He turned to Captain Falcon. "And the kid has to be your gender."

Falcon muttered as they all went to select a kid. Most of the kids were jumping around like crazy.

"Pick me! Pick me!" they kept saying over and over.

Pichu was the first person to get one. It was a little girl who looked about 6 years old. She picked up Pichu immediately and put her securely in her arms. Soon after. that more smashers picked a kid. There were a few smashers left. Zelda peered through the large crowd of girls. There were a lot of girls dressed like her and dressed like Sheik. _I bet they expect that I'm going to pick them because they dress like me. They better think again._ Zelda's eyes dropped on a familiar person way in the back. _It's Kendrix. That's who I'll pick._

Zelda walked through the crowd of girls. When she was in close range of Kendrix she called her name. "Hey, Kendrix!"

Kendrix looked up at Zelda. She looked shocked to see Zelda actually talking to her again. Zelda reached her in a few seconds. "How would like to spend the day with me?"

"Me?" Kendrix said quietly. She could feel envious eyes stare at her wanting to be the one that Zelda picked. "You want to hang out with me?"

Zelda nodded. "Mm-hmm. As long as your mom says yes."

Kendrix looked at her mom who was beaming. "I think it's a great idea. Don't you think so, Kendrix?"

Kendrix smiled. "Yes."

Zelda grinned. "Well then. Let's go head back with the other smashers." She then looked up at her mother. "I'll take good care of her for you."

Mrs. Melane ruffled her daughter's hair. "I know you will and she will be on her best behavior."

Kendrix nodded. "I will. Bye mom!" the two girls headed back to the front ready to have a good day.

* * *

Veronica took a deep sigh. "At times like these I just feel like gagging. Wasting the day away signing autographs and spending time with little annoying brats."

She walked around the town. The smashers had left to a secluded place where no one else could go that wasn't chosen. "You think I would be allowed to sign some autographs. I mean look at who I am. I'm the daughter of the man who brought this whole thing to life. Sure, it may have been that stupid hand's idea but if it wasn't for my Dad, M.H would probably be locked up in a cage in some freak show."

Her purple eyes looked at all the stores. She caught some glances and catcalls from guys she passed by. But who wouldn't get those remarks when you're wearing a miniskirt and a cute top with the sleeves hanging off your shoulders. In return she would acknowledge them with a wave or a sexy smile. Veronica flipped her hair. _With looks like these I'm so irresistible. Except, I'm having problems with one guy. Except soon he'll be under my wing. Just have to get rid of a certain busybody, but this time I'm going to take a different approach. _

An idea popped in Veronica's head and she stopped walking. _It may be a little tough. But I must do it. But I have to be very precise and careful._

**Forest of Serine Isle**

"Hey, Zelda let's go this way." Kendrix said excitedly.

Zelda caught up with the young 8-year old and stopped right beside her. "Why this way?"

"There's something I got to show ya! Come on!" She said with a smile as she grabbed Zelda's hand.

Zelda felt joy in her heart as she saw Kendrix smiled. She was happy when they first went to lunch with the other smashers. Kendrix met most of the smashers and then she began to open up around everyone especially Zelda. They played games for a long while and Kendrix showed Zelda the town and then the little girl said she had something exciting to show Zelda. Kendrix pulled the Hylian Princess through the forest. "Just a little bit further."

"Okay." _Good thing I brought comfortable flat shoes for walking._ Zelda thought to herself as they continued down the path. The forest was beautiful. It was almost like a rainforest or a jungle. In other words pretty tropical. Wildflowers grew almost in every direction. Trees so tall that when you looked up you couldn't even see the sky. There wasn't even a hint of a dead plant.

"Plants sure are healthy around here." Zelda pointed out.

"Yes. We get a lot of rainfall around here like a rainforest. So, everything gets its fair share in H20." Kendrix commented.

"Oh." Zelda said quietly.

Kendrix's red braids bounced as she came to a stop. "We're here."

Zelda looked in Kendrix's direction. There were some large plants in the way. And that was all Zelda could see. "What are we looking at?"

"Hold on." Kendrix pushed a few of the large leaves out of the way.

"Oh my gosh." Zelda said quietly. She looked past the leaves to see a view of the whole forest. She walked past the plants to get a better look. She could see all the places they passed on their walk up there. She even saw part of the town and the ocean surrounding Serine Isle. She also saw that they were up really high which started making her head hurt. She stepped back and sat down on the ground.

Kendrix got worried and walked over to her. "I'm sorry. Is it boring?"

"No… it's just… can you keep a secret?" Zelda looked through the corner of her eye to see Kendrix nod. "I have a fear of heights."

Kendrix gasped. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! Please forgive me I didn't know!" she said quickly.

Zelda turned around and placed her arms on Kendrix's shoulders. "No it's okay. " She said calmly she briefly looked at the view again before turning back to her friend. "It's a beautiful spot. Let's stay up here for a awhile."

Kendrix was confused. "But… doesn't this scare you?"

"Yes. But even though I'm afraid, I like to look at things from up high anyway."

"Oh. But only because you want to." Kendrix sat down next to her.

"So, Kendrix. Why'd you want to show me this spot? Is it special to you?"

"Mm-hmm. My daddy took me up here once when he found me playing by myself. It became my favorite spot ever since I first laid eyes on it. It was my mom's and dad's too. We came up here every Saturday and had a picnic or just stay up here to look at the stars." Kendrix sighed sadly.

Zelda noticed this. "I'm guessing you don't come up here with your family anymore, do you?"

Kendrix shook her head. "No. They got too much into their work. My dad would leave overseas to some other island to work every day, which is where he is right now. My mom works only part of the day, but when she's at home she still works and then goes to sleep."

"…" Zelda couldn't find any words to say.

"So, they couldn't spend the least bit time with me. I would be home alone most of the time with no friends."

"Hmm… sounds like my father except it was a little different."

Kendrix looked up interested in her conversation. "How?"

"My father didn't really have time for me. But he had time to control my social life. He didn't let me make friends with anyone outside the castle and under the royal class. So, that really limited my friends. In fact, I only made friends with my protector Impa."

"So, did you play by yourself also when you were little?"

"Yes, most of the time when Impa was busy."

"Must have been hard."

Zelda smirked. "Better believe it. You know what you got to do, Kendrix?"

"No."

"You got to confront your parents and talk to them about how you feel about them never being around. Tell them how you miss them and how you want them to spend some time with you. Your mom looks like she would understand."

"I don't know about that, Zelda." Kendrix lightly laughed. "We're almost the same. Except at least you have friends now."

"And now you do too."

Kendrix gasped and looked at Zelda. She was looking at her also. Kendrix had a non-emotional look on her face. "Do you really…"

Zelda nodded. "We're friends, Kendrix."

Kendrix looked at Zelda for a moment. Tears stared to well up in her eyes. She couldn't contain herself and hugged Zelda as she sobbed silently. She wasn't only crying because of her life at home, but now she had made a friend. "Thank you, Zelda."

"Anything for a friend." Zelda said as tears fell from her eyes.

**In Town**

"Okay, I dropped my kid off and had a good time actually. Now I got to go back and meet my friends for a bit and then gotta go find Zelda." Link glanced at all the shops he passed by. Most were family businesses and small markets. There were little trinket stores outside in almost every little direction Link looked.

"Maybe I should get Zel something here." Link said to himself.

"Link!" a female voice called.

It sounded familiar. He turned around to see Samus jogging up to him.

Link stopped. "Hey Sam! What's up?" She stopped in front of him and started to catch her breath. Link watched her slowly look up at him. "Is something up, Sam?"

Samus' green eyes showed signs of seriousness. "Link, I need to talk to you."

"Really? What about?"

Samus shook her head. "I can't talk here. We have to go somewhere else. It's very important. Follow me."

Samus started to walk off in the same direction Link was going. Link hesitated wondering, what it was about. But after a second or two, he followed her.

**Another Part Of Town**

After a few hours on the mountain, Kendrix and Zelda quickly headed back into town. Zelda offered to walk Kendrix back to her house and she accepted. The sun was setting as they were heading back. Large purple clouds were covering the whole sky and began to darken. The girls talked about each other's lives on the way back. About the good times. It seemed like they only talked for a little while as they reached Kendrix's house.

Kendrix dug in her front overall pocket and pulled out a small bronze key. She put it in the lock and opened the door.

"Mom, I'm home." Kendrix turned to Zelda. "Come in for a second?"

"Sure, I have time."

Kendrix went inside with Zelda, not far behind. She started up the stairs. "Wait for me right here, okay?"

"I'll be waiting." Zelda reassured her.

As she went upstairs, her mother entered the room, carrying papers in her hands. Her hair was a mess from working and she was in some old sweats. She placed the papers down on a nearby table and turned her attention to Zelda.

"I can't thank you enough for spending time with her."

"It was nothing. I was glad to make her happy."

"This was probably one of the best days of her life."

Zelda shook her head. "I think the best day of her life here was when her mother and father use to take her to the forest for family time."

Mrs. Melane silently gasped. "She told you?"

"Yes. She told me everything when we were up at that mountain like how you guys don't have time for her anymore."

"Well, work does come first if we plan on living in this house." Her mom replied.

_Just like my father. _"Believe me I can understand that. But she misses you and needs you," Zelda said seriously. It felt weird for her telling a parent that, but she needed to know.

Before Mrs. Melane could respond, Kendrix came bouncing down the stairs. "Zelda, I have a gift for you."

Zelda looked at Kendrix's closed fist thinking it was the gift. "What is it?"

Kendrix removed her hand. "Ta-Dah!"

Inside her palm was a bracelet. It was made out of beads mostly different shades of pink and some were symbols. Five of the pink beads spelled Zelda's name on it. At the end and beginning of her name were little pink triforce beads.

"Oh wow." Zelda said quietly.

"Do you like it?"

"Kendrix, I don't like it. I love it!" Zelda hugged Kendrix. "Did you just make this?"

"No, I made it awhile ago. I made it in hopes of one day I would give it to you. At first I thought it would never happen."

"I'm very happy that you made this for me. Thank-you." Zelda almost forgot to say that.

Kendrix was grinning from ear to ear. "You're welcome."

"I just wish I had something to give to you in return."

Kendrix patted Zelda's shoulder. "I don't need anything more. Just getting to hang out with you, getting to know each other, and then you becoming my friend was enough for sure. Thanks, Zelda."

Zelda nodded and stood up. "You're welcome. Well, I better go."

Kendrix grew sad. Zelda noticed this and smiled. " Hey, if you get lonely you know you can write to me okay?"

"Okay." Kendrix started to yawn.

Mrs. Melane laughed. "Looks like it's time for bed."

Zelda headed for the door. "Well, it was nice meeting you all. I better head back. Good-bye."

"Bye!" Kendrix and her Mom said as she headed out the door.

Zelda walked out the gate as the front door of Kendrix's house closed. She skipped down part of the sidewalk. It was a little gloomy outside. The wind started to pick up, making Zelda fold her arms together for warmth. Her strands of her blonde hair blew across her face.

_I hope the weather doesn't get too nasty._ She said as she neared her destination.

* * *

"LINK STOP! THAT'S COLD!" Zelda shouted while laughing.

"It's not that cold." Link splashed more of the ocean water on Zelda. They had walked to the beach as their first stop on their long walk.

Zelda put up her Nayru barrier. Link frowned. "That's not fair!"

Zelda stuck her tongue at him. "So what?"

"Come on, we're going to continue walking. Take it down!"

"No! Not until we're away from the ocean." Zelda said.

"Come on. You can trust me."

Zelda sighed and took off the barrier. "I guess."

Link closed his eyes in disappointment. "Din Zelda. You never trust me- eh… PEH!"

Zelda laughed while Link was trying to spit out the seawater she splashed on him out of his mouth.

Link sniffed. "Eck. I thought we were done with this."

"Correction._ You _agreed to that. I never did."

"Well, that was a bad move princess. Now I'm going to get you back!" Link put his hands in the water and pulled out a frog.

"Link, put that thing down! That's not funny!" Zelda said while nervously laughing.

Link didn't put it down. He started to advance on her frog croaking in hand. "Here comes froggy!"

Zelda got up from the rock they were sitting on and started to run away. "LINK, GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME! I'M SERIOUS!"

"SO AM I! YOU'RE GOING TO FEEL THE WRATH OF THE FROG. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Link laughed evilly.

Zelda couldn't help but laugh as she ran back up the hill they had climbed down. She heard a loud thud behind her. She looked behind her to see Link had tripped over a rock. The frog in his hand hopped away back to the ocean.

Zelda put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Hmph! Serves you right!"

Link got up quickly still having his mischievous evil grin on his face. "That's not going to stop me! Zelda Harkinian, you better start running!"

Zelda gasped as Link got up again and started running even faster. As he started to close in, Zelda decided to run again. She found herself by a bridge. She walked over to it but stopped to look for a second. It overlooked the ocean.

"Wow! How beauti- AAH!"

Link had caught up to her and grabbed her around the waist. He pulled her back and held her tightly. "YOU'RE IN MY CLUTCHES NOW PRINCESS! YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE! AND NOW PAYBACK!"

Link started to tickle Zelda on her sides. Zelda started breaking out laughing while trying to get free from his grasp. She used her hands to try and move his hands but he was too strong. "AH HA HA! HEE HEE HEE! LINK, STOP IT!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU SAY SORRY!" He said as he amusingly tickled her.

"ME? NOT A CHANCE! HA HA!" Zelda couldn't stop. She was laughing so much she was dropping to her knees in laughter.

"SAY IT!"

"NO!"

"SAY IT!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"_Okay..._ have it your way." Link said.

Zelda felt Link stop tickling her for a second. But then one hand left her waist and drifted to her neck. She could feel that tickle feeling in her neck. "NO LINK! NOT THE NECK! ALRIGHT… I GIVE! I'M SORRY FOR SPLASHING YOU!"

Link stopped automatically. "Once again the champion!"

Zelda started wheezing. "One day… I'm... going… to… get … you." She rested her head on one of the vertical boards of the bridge. Link rested his head on the same one.

"You know, Link. You've never done that since we were little kids." Zelda pointed out.

"Yeah, it's been a while." Link got up and leaned on the railing of the bridge. Zelda stood up and stood in front of Link.

"Those were days of peace." Link added.

"Mm-hmm." Zelda said as she looked down at the bracelet Kendrix gave her. Link couldn't help but stare at his friend. Her blonde hair was flowing in the wind and her sapphire blue eyes were still beautiful in the dark sky.

Zelda looked up, making Link blush, but he didn't look away. "Why are you staring at me?"

Link just smiled. "Nothing it's just that…you look so different from when we were kids."

Zelda thought Link was brain dead for a second. "But Link. You've seen me like this when you were fighting Ganon. And besides, it's called growing up. Right?"

Link grabbed her hand. "Yeah, I know. But I didn't really know your older self since then. We were so busy saving the world and all you know. I was unsure about you when I first met you. But you really are one of those special girls in the world you know?"

Zelda blushed. "Is that good?"

Link caressed her hand softly. "In my book, it's great."

Zelda and Link looked in each other's eyes. They stared at each other's loving faces. Link and Zelda's faces were slowly closing in on each other. Their faces started to soften as their lips soon started to close in. They could feel each other's warm breath flowing across their lips. Their lips almost touched when…

BOOM!

Zelda yelped in fright and instead of kissing Link, she grabbed onto him tightly. Link held on to her too.

"What was that?" Zelda asked.

Link looked up in the sky. There was a flash of lightning in the sky. "Looks like it's just a bad storm."

"Oh." She said slightly embarrassed. She looked as Link again and he the same. They were about to go at it again. But...

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Zelda and Link both pulled away from each other real quickly and looked at their wrists. It was Link's communicator that went off. There was a red light beeping on it. He sighed in a disappointed tone and answered it. "Yes, Roy."

"_Hey, Link! You need to head back. Master Hand thinks the storm is going to be a little rough so we're staying at an inn by the place where we had the tournament. We'll be there for the night since it'll be to dangerous to take the ferry back to the resort. Are you by yourself?"_

Link looked up at Zelda. "No, Zelda's with me." He said while still looking at her. She was confused as he was.

"_Well, that's good. Now we just need to wait for Yoshi, Pikachu, Marth, and Samus. Pikachu and Yoshi are on their way and Marth is too. No word from Samus though. Which means the two aren't together."_

Link paused for a moment before answering. When Roy didn't hear him respond, he spoke again. _"Link, are you still there?"_

"Yes, I'm still here. We'll head your way right now." Link said.

"_Okay. Later."_

Zelda felt a drop on her nose. She looked up to see it was starting to rain. "We better go, Link."

More thunder boomed and lightning crashed as they made their way back to the town. The rain started to drop more frequently when the town came into view. Zelda couldn't help but think to herself. _Link and I were about to kiss again. And this time he was going to kiss me too. Maybe next time. Whenever that'll be._

Link stopped in front of the building. "We're here, Zel."

Zelda snapped out of her thoughts and turned her gaze to their destination. The inn was a beige color and was a rather long building. They headed for the front door that was open. When they went inside, they saw Yoshi and Pikachu up at the front desk checking with the keeper of the inn. She was a very old lady with large droopy glasses.

Yoshi turned around and saw them. "See we're not the only ones drenched."

Pikachu was busy shaking about. "It's so cold."

The old woman looked at the two that came. "Ah, more smashers. Well, don't just stand there. You can head for your rooms now."

She smiled a crooked smile at the two. "Your rooms are on the sides; Boys to the left and girls to the right. Your friends will show you which room is yours."

They both nodded. Link looked at Zelda one last time. "See you later."

"Yes. I enjoyed our walk. See you." Zelda took off the other way.

Link turned and followed Pikachu and Yoshi to their side of the inn.

**Girl's Room**

Peach sat on her bed tapping her foot. "Where is she?"

Nana and Pichu were on the floor drawing pictures and reading their books. Jigglypuff was looking in the mirror at herself. Peach had been in the room with them for 20 minutes and she was already bored. There was a knock at the door. Seeing that everyone was preoccupied, Peach got up and headed for the door. She pulled the door opened and it revealed Zelda.

"Hey, Zel."

"Hello. Sorry I'm late. I didn't know about this."

"Neither did I until short notice." Peach moved aside to let Zelda in. "You can have one of the two beds right in the corner."

Zelda picked the one next to the window. Nana and Pichu looked up from their drawings and looked at Zelda.

"Hi, Zelda." Nana said.

Pichu jumped up on the bed next to Zelda's purse as she laid it down. "Hi Nana." She patted Pichu on the head. "Hello, Pichu."

"All the girls get this room. Except for Veronica. She requested a room to herself and she got one." Peach said after a while of silence.

Zelda rolled her eyes. "That's predictable. People give her whatever she wants." She sat down on her bed. "So who's the extra bed for?"

"For Samus when she gets here." Peach looked out the stormy window.

"You know, I haven't seen her at all since I woke up this morning. Well, if you excuse the meeting this morning and then when we were getting our friend for the day here on Serine Isle."

"I saw her a few times today and one time I saw her with Marth, but that was it. I'm worried about her. It's getting really nasty out there."

"Don't worry. Marth's with her." Zelda reassured her.

Peach looked up from her sorrowful thoughts. "No, he isn't. Marth came back a little while ago. At least that's what Roy said."

"Well, did he know anything about Samus?"

Peach came over and sat down next to Zelda making Pichu move into Peach's lap. "To tell you the truth, he didn't even say anything to anybody when he came back. And he had an angry and hurt look on his face. No one asked him about her. They only asked what was wrong. But he didn't respond and just went to his room."

"Popo says he's just sitting in his room staring up at the ceiling or the wall. With the same angry look on his face," Nana said as she continued to draw.

Zelda could hear Jigglypuff humming to herself. "Has anyone tried again to reach her?"

Peach looked at her communicator. "We did several times…but no answer. Just static every time we try."

The thunder roared through the sky again and lightning flashed. The rain was now pouring down the window. The wind was blowing some trashcans down and the trees were bending low as the wind brushed against them.

Zelda felt like she had a knot in her stomach. "Where is she?"

**To be continued…**

**So that's part one of Serine Isle. And let me tell ya it might be a while before the next chapter comes up. With school rollin in and stuff it's going to be hard to get a chapter in. This was a long chapter and if there are any spelling errors I'm sorry I'll go back and correct them later. Well it's back to school for me tomorrow! Until I can find a break Bye! Oh yeah and Please Review!**


	12. Serine Isle Part II

**Hey I'm back! And let me say one thing. School is pure evil in disguise. I couldn't get a break anywhere and it's been about five weeks since I updated which is pretty long. But it was for the better. If you want to get through school got to push everything aside for a while. A very… long … while. Plus things have been emotional for me lately. My dog was put to sleep and all. But I'm recovering. But anyway back to this story. Reviewers we're on 94 reviews! Yippee! Only six more to go, let's make it happen. On with the story. **

**Chapter 12**

**Serine Isle Part II**

Nighttime closed in on the smashers really quickly. Of course, they couldn't know this because the storm was still raging on. And it really was **raging on!** Lightning flashed the colors of red and purple all through the sky. Thunder roared like a thousand bombs blowing up at the same time. The wind blew roughly knocking down stable and not really stable things standing on their own.

In the old inn, we head over to the boys' side of the room. Link was sitting in the corner of the room he shared with Fox, Mario, Falco, Luigi, Roy and Link tampering with his shield. Falco was lying on his bed with his feet crossed and propped against the wall. Fox had found an Atlas book in the room and looking at it with actual interest. Luigi had just so happened to have a card deck in his overall pocket so him, Mario, and Roy were playing a game of Blackjack. Marth had just previously left saying the room was too stuffy. As soon as he left. conversations started up.

Mario was the first to speak. "Okay… anyone know why Marth's acting like Mr. Sad Sack?"

"Dunno. But I bet you anything that it has to do with Sam. She probably did something that hurt Marth." Falco said while moving his feet into a better position on the wall.

"Samus? No way." Roy said defending her.

Falco took his feet off the wall and sat straight up to look at Roy. "Some things tempt you so much that you can't contain yourself, Roy." Falco pointed out.

"I'm gonna have to go with Roy on this one. She couldn't have." Luigi said, entering himself in the conversation.

"But then again, Bro, you might be wrong. I've been living at the mansions for a few years and I can honestly say the girl's got a temper and it can either be good or bad for you." Mario placed his hand down on the floor. "I quit ."

Roy started to gather up the cards. "Wasn't that much fun anyway."

Fox looked up from his book. "Hold on, guys. You're saying all these great assumptions but she may not even be the reason."

"Oh come off it, Fox. You know that there aren't any other reasons to have that look on his face unless it was about a girl," Falco said.

"Eh heh. And you would just so happen to be an expert on this. I mean, you? A person who's never had a girl in his life?" Fox retorted.

Roy rolled his eyes as he saw Falco get up with his 'getting ready to argue with Fox' look on his face. "Not tonight, guys. Just chill." Roy looked over to the corner of the room to see Link with shield in hand. He was no longer shining it but clutching it close to his chest. His head was resting on the top of it. Roy looked as Link slowly and repeatedly tapped on it with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Link you've been quiet ever since you got in here. Something wrong?"

Link didn't answer. He continued to stare off, not blinking for a moment.

Fox, who was on the bed next to Link, stared at him. "Link?"

Link's ears twitched a little before his eyes blinked. He broke out of his trance and turned to the left where Fox's voice came from. "Hmm? You say something?"

"All right, Link. What's wrong? As soon as you came in here you went all silent on us."

Link shook his head and gave Fox a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, Fox. Just thinking about what to get Zel for her birthday."

"Oh, that's right. Her birthday is coming up. I still need to get something for her too." Fox scratched his chin. "Hmm… what would she be interested in? Do you know, Link?"

"I don't have a clue. I never see her have an interest in anything that she sticks with." Link placed his newly-polished shield on his bed. Link got up and stretched. "This room is stuffy. I'm going to take a walk around this place." He started to head out not asking anyone if they would join him.

"Hey can you go look for Marth on your way out? He always talks to you and-"

"I'm not heading that way. Why don't you do it ,Roy?" Link said he was reaching for the doorknob.

"Me? I think he would probably want to talk to you more than me. I mean you're one of his closest-

Link turned around. "Hey! I'm not the one worried about Marth! If you guys are worried, why don't you go talk to him okay!" He said in a harsh and biting tone. Link didn't wait for a response as he headed out the door. The five smashers left in the room just stared at the door as Link slammed it shut. They knew something was wrong."

**Some Hours Later…**

Zelda was staring out the window. Her best friend still had not returned. She already went to talk to Master Hand about it but he only said that he still hadn't heard from her. Even the usually mean spirited Master Hand was worried.

Zelda heavily sighed. "I hope she's okay out there."

"_If _she's out there."

Zelda looked up at the standing Peach. "What do you mean _if_?"

"I mean what I said. She could be anywhere Zel. She may be injured or maybe even… well you know."

"How can you think like that Peach? That's just ignorance!"

"Zelda, stop. You're going to ruin it."

Zelda looked at Peach questionably. "Ruin what?"

Peach plopped down next to her companion. "Well I read in book that thinking negatively about someone and having no hope will make a positive effect."

"A positive effect?" Zelda echoed. "Like…

"Like Samus coming back here safe and sound or that she's somewhere safe, in some place nice, warm, and snug."

"Oh I see what you're getting at. But please do realize you read that it was just a book. I'm just going to keep thinking positive."

Zelda looked out at the storm again. Things were just so haywire. Nothing was fun anymore. Her trip had not been as fun as she had hoped it to be. Well she had fun with her best friends, and today when she met Kendrix, and she knew she definitely had a good time with Link.

"So… how was your walk?" Peach turned her attention on Zelda.

"My walk with Link?" she could see Peach nod through the corner of her eye. "It was great. It was just like old times when we were kids. So much fun."

"Okay. But did anything happen out there? For example, did you guys kiss?"

"NO!' Zelda covered her mouth quickly, realizing she said that a little too loud. After recovering, she removed her hand. "No, I did not."

"Come on. Tell me. When you first came into the room you had a dreamy look on your face, telling me something romantic happened to you. I want to know. I would tell you something about a boy if you wanted to know."

_You would tell me even if I didn't want to know._ "Okay…well, we almost kissed. But Roy interrupted with that message telling us to come in."

"Oh the "close but yet so far away almost kiss." That's common." Peach commented.

Zelda couldn't really continue with the conversation. She was too worried. But that was what she was. A worrywart. "Come on, Peach. Let's go outside."

"In the rain?"

"Not in the rain. On the patio."

"Oh right. Okay."

The two princesses crept out of the room quietly hoping not to wake their roommates. They walked out into the hallway headed to their left to the entrance. On their way out they walked past a few rooms and heard snoring. Mainly coming from the boys' rooms. Some snores louder and sickening then others. After a long hall walk, the entrance was visible to them. When they walked in they started to get a chill. The room was freezing cold.

Zelda's Hylian ears picked up something that Peach muttered. "Should have brought my coat. If any more mist drops on my hair I will have a puffy hairdo like a poodle."

Zelda smiled. That's Peach for ya. Fashion always comes first and it worried her that Peach's brain would fry one day out of fashion stress. Her eyes fell forward on the front door. But she stopped when she saw something. She saw two figures outside standing right in front of the front door.

"Hey, Zel. Do you see what I see?"

"Mm-hmm. Two people maybe one of them is Samus."

"Maybe but then the other must be Master Hand."

"Why do say that?"

Peach walked even closer to the front door. "Because one of them is floating."

Zelda squinted to look outside. Sure enough, she could see the figure of Master Hand. The big fingers were now visible to her. But when she looked at the other person she saw that they were opening the door. Peach saw it too and uttered a small noise in sync with Zelda. They both took a tiny step back but couldn't move another inch because they were frozen in place. Zelda gritted her teeth as the door opened slowly with a loud gradually getting louder noise. The person put one foot inside and stopped and said something else to Master Hand for a second and then walked inside. Zelda sighed when she saw it was only Marth and gained a little hope thinking that maybe…

Marth took about five seconds to realize he wasn't alone in the room. He looked up questionably at his friends. "Peach? Zel? What are you guys doing up?"

They didn't answer. Peach didn't know why they were frozen in fear. This was their friend. So, she bravely spoke up. "We can ask you that same question." She challenged him.

Marth raised an eyebrow. "And… I wouldn't mind if you did."

Zelda decided to speak when she came to a conclusion that this was a meaningless conversation about to happen. "We were worried about, Sam. She never came back, you know."

Marth didn't say anything for a moment as he shut the front door. "Yes, I know." He wasn't the least bit sincere in that remark.

"Did you reach her or anything?" Zelda had a little bit of hope left. Marth simply shook his head as he started to walk their way. Zelda's hope dropped in a millisecond. Where was her friend? But she was wondering why Marth was acting so calm about this. As far as Zelda knew Marth was very protective of Samus and always looked out for her. So, this new Marth really puzzled her. "You must be worried."

"Not really. Samus knows what she's doing and she's probably somewhere safe and sound. Not worried at all. She'll be back in the morning."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

Zelda watched Peach walk up to Marth with her hands on her hips. "This is your girlfriend, Marth and you're not the least bit worried? That's not like you." Peach had a frown on her face as she looked at the swordsman. Marth returned the same frown.

"Just like I said. I'm… not… worried. If she's in any trouble she would have called me by now unless she's busy calling someone else."

"Unless?" Zelda walked up to Marth puzzled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Marth turned his head from Peach to Zelda. He stared at her for a long time. Then he sighed. "If you only knew. Goodnight, ladies."

Zelda's eyes followed Marth as he walked back to his room. As the door shut she looked at Peach. Peach was still looking at the door. "Weird."

Zelda fiddled with her gloved hand. "That's not normal … for him anyway. I wonder what's wrong."

The front door opened again and Master Hand floated in. "I thought I saw you two in here. You should be sleep."

"We couldn't. We're too worried about Samus." Zelda said.

"Well, you do not have to worry about her. She's just fine."

Peach's eyes lit up. "She is?"

"Yes. She called me and told me she's staying at her buddy's house. You know the one that she spent the day with?"

Zelda smiled. "Oh, what a relief."

"Turns ou,t she was out late with her buddy and they got back to her friend's house really late. And that's when the storm came rolling in. So she stayed there. Yes, she'll be back in the morning." Master Hand added. "Which reminds me, we're heading back really early, so you better get as much sleep as you can."

"Okay. Good night." The girls retreated back to their room. They walked in a light jog. Zelda sighed as they reached their room. "I'm so happy she's safe." Zelda expected a comment but did not get one. Peach remained silent. "What's wrong, Peach?"

Peach shook her head as she opened the door to their room. "It's nothing. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Just about what Marth said. I mean what did he mean by that "unless"?"

"I know what you mean. It really makes me wonder. But maybe it's nothing." Zelda walked into the room.

Peach looked down the hallway. "Maybe…" she entered and quietly shut the door.

**Veronica's Room**

"I have two days left. Two days…"

Veronica was in her bed staring up at the ceiling. Her thoughts were being very frustrating today. She had so much planning to day. Her countdown was coming to an end. She sighed and rolled on to her side.

"Just two more days." She whispered.

**Next Morning…**

"Where is she?" Peach looked around. "I don't see her anywhere."

Link was sitting next to Zelda on a bench outside. "She's probably not here yet."

"But he said she would be here in the morning and the boats are leaving soon." Peach continued to look through the crowd of people who were saying good-bye to the smashers. Zelda looked at her right hand and saw the homemade bracelet that Kendrix had made for her. Kendrix had came by earlier to say bye to her and to tell her some good news. Her parents were taking her to her favorite spot felt happy for the young girl, but she was still wondering one thing. This whole time they had been here, Veronica did not do a thing to her. It worried her to the extreme. A girl who had always been tormenting her for the past few weeks had been silent this whole trip. In fact, Zelda rarely ever saw her. She knew that she was up to something but what… she did not know.

But she dropped that thought and turned to Link. "Link?"

Link turned to Zelda. "Yeah?"

"Is Marth okay?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, he was acting weird yesterday. Well I don't' want to say weird but… let's just say he was acting different."

"Different huh?" Link tapped his fingers across his lap. "In what way?"

"I can't really describe it. I thought maybe he would have told you. I mean you two are like best-"

"That doesn't mean he tells me everything!" Link snapped. Link looked at Zelda who was now looking at him funny.

"Okay, Link. You don't have to get all defensive. Just say you don't know."

"Sorry. But yeah I don't know what's up with him." Link looked up. "Hey, look who it is."

Zelda looked up and saw her. Samus Aran was talking to Young Link who had just stopped to talk to her. Zelda got up quickly and ran to her. When she was a little bit closer she called her name. "Samus!"

Samus heard her name and looked to the left first. When she saw no one, she looked forward and saw Zelda. She smiled and waved. "Hey, Z!"

Zelda caught up to her quickly. Young Link was starting to run off and go find his friends. She stopped right in front of her. "We thought something happened to you."

"No, of course not." Samus's green eyes were not as bright as they used to always be. They had lost the fire of excitement in them. But this was unnoticeable to Zelda for now. Her face looked pale and there were hints of baggy dark rings under her eyes like a raccoon's. She was dressed different from the other day. Instead of wearing her black tank top and blue jeans, she was now wearing a navy blue sweatshirt and khaki pants. Her hair was in a messy ponytail. "It was just bad weather and I didn't want to try to walk back here."

"That's understandable. It just scared us that we couldn't reach you at all. We were all worried about you but…"

Samus crossed her arms. "But what?"

Peach had caught up along with Link. "But Marth was acting weird. He acted like he didn't care where you were or something."

Samus looked at Peach for a second and then looked up at the sky. "Really?" She brought her eyes back down on the group. "Didn't seem like that when I talked to him."

Link jumped in the conversation. "So, you already talked to him?"

Samus slowly nodded. "Yeah, and he said he was worried. So, maybe you guys just caught him in a bad mood yesterday or something."

Behind Samus, Pichu scrunched down and then jumped on Samus' shoulder. She greeted Samus with a small nuzzle to the face. Samus' face made an odd expression when Pichu met with her shoulder but then she smiled and lifted the pokemon off her shoulder. She held Pichu in her hands. "Hey, Pichu." She said in a weak voice. It was almost a hoarse voice.

"Samus, you're not sick are you? From the rain?" Peach asked concerned.

"No. Just tired. Didn't get to sleep till late last night." Samus hugged the small pokemon to her chest slowly and carefully not to squish the young pokemon.

"Oh." Peach mouthed with no sound. She looked at friend from head to toe. After quick look she looked at her friend and smiled. "Well, happy to hear that. I thought you'd miss out on all the fun if you were sick."

Samus turned her attention to Link who was busy looking around the pier. "What's wrong with you, Link?"

Link's head turned back to the group. "Nothing just seeing if we were loading on the boat and it looks like we are. So, I'm going to get my stuff. See you guys later."

The three girls watched him go off in the direction of the boat. Pichu made herself comfortable in Samus's arms. Zelda found herself feeling happy at that moment. Her best friend was back and she would never forget that she and Link almost kissed. She felt like singing at the moment but not wanting any stares from her friends she sung a song of happiness in her head._ This is so amazing. This trip is changing everything for the better. Trips really do bring people together. And I mean really together._

"So, Zel…"Zelda looked at Samus who was eyeing her with a smirk. Samus started to walk towards the boat with her friends following her. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

Zelda grinned. "You better take a seat. I have so much to tell you."

**On the Boat**

The ride back home was going slow, at least too slow for Marth anyway. Marth leaned his body on the railing of the boat and looked out at the sea and the now disappearing Serine Isle. He just wanted to get back to the hotel so he could get to his room and just stay there and think. Thinking was all he could think about doing at the time. _I mean what else is there to do? I surely can't talk to anybody about it because the two people involved in my troubles are the one's I usually talk to for advice. I just don't know what to do, how to react, and what to say to her when the time comes. Roy tried to ask me what was wrong but I just can't trust Roy with such a problem._

_And what problem would that be?_

Marth frowned. _Can you please stay out of my head, Mewtwo? Some thoughts are more private than you think._

_I already know the two people this has to deal with. Just tell me the rest. You can rely on psychic pokemon not to tell a soul what he heard in between minds._

Marth turned around and looked at Mewtwo finally. He was levitating in front of him with a serious look on his face. But it wasn't like that was new or anything. But this face had something special added to it that made Marth come to a decision to trust the pokemon. He took a heavy sigh and closed his eyes for a second. He opened his icy blue eyes again and looked at Mewtwo. _Okay. Not a word of this gets out._

Mewtwo nodded. _I won't tell a soul and even think it._

**Another Part of the Boat**

In the small room of the boat, Peach, Zelda, and Samus were sitting at a small round table. They were talking about Zelda's moments of fun yesterday. Zelda felt great when she had a normal conversation with her two best friends again. They really brought the best out of her and she did the same for them.

"I can't believe you two almost kissed." Samus said with a small laugh. Peach was smiling, thinking about the same thing.

Zelda blushed remembering that day. "Me either. But we almost did but interruptions came in the way."

"Ugh. Interruptions are the worst." Samus smiled but it was a weak smile and faded quickly in a matter of milliseconds. She sighed heavily as she saw the Nintendo Festival coming into view.

"Attentions been on me too long. What did you do yesterday Sam?" Zelda asked while placing an elbow on the smooth and white table. Zelda watched Samus sit straight up at that question. She looked like she wasn't going to answer at first.

"Me?" Samus said quietly. She watched Peach and Zelda nod at her. She felt all pressure on her. Her face was burning up. She tried her best to pull herself together. "Nothing. I just spent the whole day with my buddy and that was it." Unknowing to Samus her right hand was trembling and Peach was the only one who saw it and became suspicious. Samus continued. "Nothing spectacular like your day."

She stood up and stretched. When she stretched her arms, she uttered a small whimper that Zelda could hear. Samus shifted her feet into walking mode. "We're almost here and I'm going to get a bit of fresh air. See you guys later on the dock." She walked out of the room with her left foot slightly dragging.

When she was out of sight Peach tapped Zelda to get her attention. When Zelda turned she saw Peach had a serious look on her face. "Something is going on with Samus."

Zelda nodded. "I want to say you're wrong but it's true. She's just not herself today. The usually fun girl to be around has turned into a bundle of sadness. I can tell by her tone of voice that something went on and she's not telling us."

"I know. I just don't understand why she doesn't tell us. She tells us everything. It must be really serious. And did you noticed her face?"

Zelda wished she didn't remember that look on Samus's face. She looked horrible. "She was pale and looked like she hadn't eaten in a while. What could possibly have her acting like this? I think we need to talk to someone about this. She could be hurting herself."

Peach shook her head. "No, we can't. Sam wouldn't want us to tell anyone. Even if we don't know what's wrong, we shouldn't just go blab to someone else. We might be wrong ,but I highly doubt that." Peach looked at her hands as she neatly folded them. She, nor Zelda could not figure out what was wrong.

A few minutes later the boat landed on shore and the smashers piled out of the boat and headed to the bus in the loading zone. When Zelda and Peach arrived on the bus they found everyone was packed on the bus but there were some empty seats towards the middle. Samus was in a seat with Yoshi. Yoshi was telling Samus something that was making her laugh real hard. There wasn't a hint of fake laughter in her voice as Yoshi continued to talk. There was a seat that was empty behind the two and the princesses walked down the aisle to the seat behind. When they plopped in the seats behind them Samus turned her head around. Her usual smile was back on her face and her green eyes were lit up like usual.

"There you guys are. I thought you guys were left behind or something." She turned back around in her seat.

"Okay, now she's back to normal. How'd that happen?" Peach whispered in Zelda's ear. Zelda simply shrugged and continued to face forward looking at every row. She then started looking behind her. Peach started to wonder what Zelda was up to. "Zelda, what are you looking for?"

"It's more of a who. I'm looking around to see… oh, there he is with Roy." Zelda was looking forward in her seat again. Peach looked in the direction of the princess's eyes. "Whom are you talking about? Marth?"

"Yes. I wonder why Samus and Marth didn't sit together like they usually do. You don't think they…" Zelda wondered.

"Broke up? Not a chance. Those two are way too much in love with each other to do that. I never met a closer couple than those two. Cuter either. They just probably wanted to sit with their friends today. There's no law that they have to sit together."

"That may be… but still." Zelda muttered the last two words. Her eyes then wandered the bus again looking for someone else now. "I haven't seen Link on the bus. Probably up front with Veronica again. Din, I hate her."

Peach looked two seats up diagonal from her. "Actually Link is two seats up sitting with Falco and talking with Fox." Peach pointed Zelda in the right direction. Sure enough, there they were talking and having a good time.

Zelda blinked repeatedly. "Wow. They're not together. Never thought I would see that. You know what Peach? I think even though we almost kissed it doesn't mean anything. I mean that probably happened lots of times with Veronica or maybe it already happened and he hasn't told me. And that walk may not have meant anything. Maybe it was just a walk between friends and he felt pity for me or maybe Veronica told him to do it to set me up for her later telling me that they are together or maybe-"

"Or maybe you should stop jinxing yourself before it actually happens and you'll be sorry." Peach interrupted.

"Sorry. It was just hard to believe that it happened."

"Understandable. These things happen to me all the time."

Roy popped in behind them. "What? Your fake hair falling out in public?" he joked.

Zelda sighed and plugged her ears. _Here we go…_

"Roy, stay out of people's business you jerk! No one asked you!" Peach snapped at him.

"And I wasn't hoping for a response. Your voice is really painful to my sensitive ears." Roy made a gesture of holding his hands up to his ears while chuckling.

Peach started her rampage towards Roy in 0 seconds flat. Zelda smirked. _Saw that coming. Nothing out of the ordinary here. _Her eyes found their way to Link. Link's aquamarine eyes were lively just like his facial expressions. His silky blond hair was swaying along with his head. Well, she didn't know if it was silky but she imagined it to be. _Oh, Link. I wonder if we will be together some day._

**The Nintendo Resort**

As soon as the smashers arrived back to the resort, they were pulled right into a meeting in Master Hand's office. Today was the day they were going to a festival **(aka amusement park).** You know… the one Pikachu dreads because he was used as an animal at a petting zoo. But he vowed it would never happen again and he would make sure it would not happen to Pichu either. The meeting was rather quick and they were excused early. They would leave in the next 5 hours. Which meant….

"FREE TIME!" all the smashers said as they ran out of the office in a hurry. All of them scrambled to their rooms in a hurry to get their things and then headed out the door. Zelda didn't get to leave right at that time because she had to wait for Peach to change clothes, which was a pretty good idea since they had the same clothes on from yesterday. After a good 45 minutes, Peach came out of her bathroom with her green dress on.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Zelda frowned. "You should have been ready a long time ago. Now we have to go to my room before we go shopping. I need to get my purse."

"Fine by me. We have all the time in the world. Actually looking at shoes will take at least two hours. Then we still have clothes for three hours… and AAHH! WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME!" Peach panicked. "ZELDA WE CAN'T EVEN FIND TIME FOR ACCESSORIES!"

"First of all, Peach. I'm hoping it won't take that long and besides Samus is coming with us. I doubt we'll even do that much shopping anyway. And second of all, if she did like shopping, I myself wouldn't do it for five hours even though I love to shop. And third, we need to hurry to my room so we don't want to waste any more time."

Zelda walked at a fast pace to her room with Peach right behind her. Her room was only two doors down. She pulled out her key and opened the door. As she slowly opened the door she stuck her head inside. She looked over at Samus's bed to see her sitting on it. She had a sheet wrapped around her with shoes off and everything. Zelda walked in slowly. "Sam, you're not even ready."

Samus didn't answer while she was staring off into space. Her face had returned back to the way it was when Zelda first saw her. Pale and gloomy. Her eyes had no energy or hint of happiness in them. Peach walked in and slammed door, making sure Samus heard them that time. She did as she jumped from the sound of the slamming door. She looked over at them . "Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you guys at first."

Peach placed a hand on her hip. "And you almost didn't hear us that time. Why aren't you ready to go?" she said sharply.

"I didn't tell you." Samus held the sheets tighter around her shoulders. "I no longer want to go."

"Not go? But why not?" Zelda said in a disappointed tone.

"I'm just not up for it." Samus said simply. She looked away from them and looked down at the floor.

"But…" Zelda started.

"Look Zel, I'm not going."

Peach got angry. "We didn't see you at all yesterday and now you're bailing on us? Oh, you'll be going all right!"

Peach stomped over to her and grabbed Samus' arms in a flash. "Get up right now!"

Samus pulled back. "No, I'm staying."

Zelda looked at her friends' tug of war. Peach was tugging hard but Samus was hardly pulling back at all. She was wincing. Samus was in pain. Zelda ran over to her friends.

"Peach, stop!"

Peach didn't listen. "No! She's coming with us!"

Samus was getting angry. "Didn't you hear me? I said no!"

Zelda pleaded. "Peach let-

Too late. Peach pulled Samus in one last tug. She managed to pull Samus off the bed. But instead of Samus standing up, she fell on her knees. As soon as her legs touched the carpet she screamed out in pain and let go of the sheets. Her hands slammed right down on her right leg. The sheet fell off her shoulders and fell to the ground. Revealing what had been wrong the whole time.

Peach's hands flew over her mouth and her eyes widened. Zelda eyes widened too and she gasped. Samus was still on the ground groaning in pain. Zelda's eyes couldn't tear away from her friend. No words could be said to explain the horrified looks on Zelda and Peach's faces. Samus was wearing a black tank top and shorts, but that was not what surprised them. On her right leg was a very large and deep gash on her leg and on both her left and right side of the back of her shoulder blades, were two identical deep wounds. All three wounds were big, red slashes.

**A/N: And that's it for now. I bet I have many spelling errors but I will go back later. You'll probably find out what happened to Samus really soon or maybe I should just leave that cliffhanger for a long time. But maybe not. You probably know what happened since you're all so good at guessing. But don't ruin it for the people who can't guess what it is. A few chapters are left in this. Okay remember six more reviewers are needed and hey even more reviews than that. Anyway review and I'll put up the next chapter! Oh yeah I want to hear from you guys. What's your favorite chapter or the one chapter you dislike, or think is sad. Doesn't matter to me. You can answer all three of those and even more if you want to, like if there was one chapter that made you laugh. I just want to hear so I can improve my writing. I'll be pleased if you tell me. Bye for now!**


	13. What She Didn't Want To Hear

**Listen Everyone, You probably received this email saying chapter 13 was up awhile ago but it wasn't that was a total accident I was trying to replace a chapter but I actually submitted one. I'm sorry. And I also want to say that reviewers…WE DID IT! WHOO-HOO! 100 REIVEWS AND THEY KEEP INCREASING! I'M SO EXCITED! Ahem… Okay I'm done. But I want to thank all of you for helping me reach my goal and I'll express my thanks even more later. Anyway this chapter is short and you guys didn't figure anything out except one thing which is a first for me because my stories are so obvious to figure out. If you read some of the last few chapters you would have figures it out but you didn't. Oh well. I'll tell you who did it and why it happened in this chapter and one more tragic thing. No skipping ahead. You'll ruin it. Here we go.  
**

**Chapter 13**

**What She Didn't Want to Hear **

"Samus… what are those?" Peach recovered from her shock first.

Samus didn't answer. She had stopped whimpering from the pain, but she still was slightly embarrassed her friends now saw what was wrong with her and she was wondering what they would think of it. For the time being, she remained silent. She looked down at her injured leg. The large wound was just looking back at her with a menacing look. She knew wounds didn't have a face. But if it had a face, the scary look it would be giving Samus right now would make her sick to her stomach. The pain of the slashes was unbearable. She remembered what they looked like when she first got them. It made her whole body shudder but it didn't quiver in hurt as much it did on how she got them.

"They're just simple cuts." Samus said quietly with no eye contact. "These things happen sometimes."

"Those things are anything but simple little cuts. Those are severe injuries." Zelda sat down besides Samus on the ground. Her eyes were on Samus's hands. She gently grabbed her friend's hands. "Let me see." Samus let Zelda remove her hands from the wound. As Zelda had suspected, the wounds were really deep and when she lifted Samus' hands, she saw that there was blood on them. Zelda looked at her gloved hands to see small, reddish splotches on them. These were some serious cuts. "Samus, why didn't you say anything about these bruises? They're horrible and slightly bleeding."

Samus was quiet again. Zelda grew tense. _She's not answering anything. There's some big story behind these injuries and she won't tell. _She looked deep into Samus' green eyes. They were hurt and lost in sadness. But there were no signs of tears anywhere. "Samus, how exactly did you get hurt?"

Samus sighed. "It was some wild animal. It attacked me from behind and gave me those slashes."

Zelda sighed and silently glared at her friend. _Now that was just a lie, a pitiful one to be more specific. She has got to do better than that to cover her story up. I've never seen her look so hurt in all the time I've known her. She looks like she's going to crack if one more thing happens to her._

Peach sat down on the other side of the bounty hunter. "I've never seen an animal with just one sharp claw or talon. Most of the time they have three. And I would buy that lie if the three slashes were in the same place."

Samus chuckled. "Can never fool you two." Her chuckled faded out slowly.

The room fell silent. Zelda decided to take a look around their room. She found herself looking at the orange communicator on Samus's desk. She smiled as she remembered the first day she and her friends got the little gadgets.

_**Zelda's Flashback**_

"_Oh, these things are so cute!" Zelda said as she slipped the pink communicator on her wrist. She looked at all the gadgets on it. "Now if I can only figure out how to use it!"_

_Samus placed her hands on Zelda's shoulders. "Don't worry I'll tell you everything. I'm the gadgets expert." Her orange communicator was already on her wrist._

"_This is absurd!" Peach shouted._

_Samus groaned. "What now, Peach?"_

"_How can everyone share the same color bracelets? Zellie, doesn't it bother you that we both have pink ones?"  
_  
"_Um…no. I'm just glad to have one. Besides what's wrong with having the same color?"_

"_Everything!"  
_  
"_Oh, Peach, stop." Samus smirked. "You're creative, you'll find a way around this. I mean you always do."_

"_Hmm… guess I could. Yes, I'll go look for some nail polish or paint and decorate it a different color. I mean, no offense, Zellie. But I like to have my own style."_

"_None taken, Peach." _

"_Great, mine will look super cute and have its own unique style. Oh, goodie!" Peach squealed._

_Samus and Zelda giggled. "Typical Peach. Fashion comes first."  
__  
Peach laughed also. "Hey, I gotta be me."  
__  
Zelda looked at her friends. "You know what? You guys are like my sisters. Samus the tough and gifted, me sincere and sweet, and Peach…"_

"_The beautiful one, right?" Peach asked._

"_Actually the girl with a walnut for a brain was what Zelda was really going for." Samus joked._

_Peach narrowed her eyes at Samus. "I'll let that one slide."_

_Zelda smiled and put her arms around her two best friends in the world. "Yes, we're just like sisters."_

_**End of Flashback**_

_But things have changed since that day. We haven't had a fun day like that in a while._ Zelda concluded. "Did someone we know do this to you?"

"… No?" Samus answered unsure of her answer.

"I think it is someone we know. Oh my gosh, was it Veronica again?" Peach asked.

Zelda freaked out in her mind at that thought. She remembered the first time Veronica had injured Samus and it was not pretty. Veronica had made the floor slippery back at the mansion causing Samus to slip all the way down the stairs. It left her unconscious.

"It wasn't her… was it, Sam?" Zelda asked.

"No, it wasn't, Zelda. She had nothing to do with it." She responded.

Peach was looking at Samus' wounds still. "You know, those look like cuts you can get from something sharp like a kitchen knife, dagger, axe, saw, or some kind of blade that leaves deep marks-"

Zelda gasped. "Like a sword."

Samus twitched at the sound of that word. But she shook it off quickly. They were slowly gathering up on what really happened. But she wouldn't let anything spill out. She could see that both of them knew they were on the right track now. Samus cursed herself for letting her emotions get the best of her.

Zelda looked into her friend's eyes. "It was a sword, wasn't it?"

Samus tried to stand up. "No, it wasn't." She lied again. She was successfully able to stand. She slowly walked over to the bathroom. Peach and Zelda watched Samus walk in an odd way. She was slowly limping and every time her foot hit the ground they could hear a tiny whimper. Zelda got up and followed her and Peach stayed by Samus's bed. She walked into her bathroom and looked over at Samus, looking in the mirror at her face. On the counter, were Samus' clothes from yesterday. The clothes were covered in blood in the right places. She saw some bandages right next to the clothes covered in the same content. Zelda walked over to inspect the clothes, picking up the jeans first. Samus saw her do this in the corner of her eye and tried to stop her from doing so, but Zelda stopped her hands from grabbing the clothes. She found the spot she was looking for. Right where the bloodstain was, Zelda found a large tear in the back of the pants leg. It was the same size as the weapon she was hoping it wasn't.

Zelda shook her head._ It could not have been him. I don't want to believe it and I won't believe it. He is so nice he wouldn't do anything so cruel especially to Sam. It had to be someone else._

Samus sighed finally ready to talk. "I guess you guys should know, right?"

"That would be nice." Peach's voice said from the bedroom. When Samus walked back out Peach was already up. She walked over to Samus and helped her sit down on her bed. Zelda was slowly walking out of the bathroom. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear what happened even if it did not have to deal with her. Her first thought was to leave so she wouldn't have to hear, but her conscience told her to stay and be there for her friend. She hurried her pace to the room. She watched Samus and Peach sitting there quietly and waiting for her.

Zelda sat on the left of Samus and looked at her deep red wound. She knew there was one thing she could do for her friend. She raised her hand up to Samus's wound. And closed her eyes. She had golden energy glowing on her fingertips as she healed her friend's wound. She heard Samus say thank-you quietly as she continued to do it. She removed her hand from the first wound and headed for the second one on her back. "Tell us what happened, Samus. I can still listen."

Samus gathered up her composure and nodded. "Okay, this is what happened. I was on my way back to the arena when I found a message on the communicator Master Hand gave us. It was from Master Hand supposedly saying all that smashers were heading back to that woodsy picnic place we were at before. It said I needed to go there immediately. So, I hurried my way over there and that's how it all started…"

**Flashback**

_Samus reached her destination in under 7 minutes. When she stopped at the place she was supposed to be she looked around. There wasn't a single person there._

_She was confused. "This is strange. No one is even here yet am I early?"_

_She pressed on her wristwatch and her suit came off. She was getting really hot under it. She looked around again and walked even further into the woodsy place. Nothing could be seen but trees and darkness. Not really thinking much of it, she continued forward looking for anybody._

"_Hello?" she called. "Anybody here?" she sighed. "Am I at the wrong place?"  
_  
"_Hey, Sam."_

_Samus turned around and saw Marth right behind her. He had a calm look on his face. She smiled. "Hey. Did you get this message too?"  
__Marth nodded and crossed his arms. "Yes. But I've been out here for a while and I haven't seen anybody."_

_Samus' eyes glance around the woods. "Hmm. I think he gave us a phony address." She walked towards Marth and stopped right next to him. "Well, we better just head back to town. It's better to be there than be in the woods." She started to walk again towards the exit of the woods. As she walking she heard a click right behind her._

"_We can't leave just yet."_

_Samus stopped short. "What do you mean?_

_Samus didn't have time to turn around. As she was about to turn she saw the glint shine of a weapon speed right by her and it slashed her directly on her right leg. She screamed out in pain and fell to the ground on her knees. Samus shut her eyes in pain as she tried to grab for her right leg but a boot stepped on her hand hard. She let out another cry as the pain shot through her hand. She grabbed it instead. When the pain stopped in her hands she slowly opened her eyes. The hand that had been smashed was the one with the golden bracelet Marth gave her and the bracelet was no longer on her hand._

"_We need to have a little talk, Sam."_

_Samus looked at up to see who was speaking to her. She then wished she hadn't because she couldn't believe her eyes. Marth was standing right in front of her looking at her with icy-cold, angry eyes. He was gripping his sword in his hand and it was dripping with blood. Her blood. Sure enough, when she looked at her right leg, blood was covering her right leg. And it was hurting her like there were thousands knives just plunged in her body. She looked back up at Marth who was looking furious. She had never seen him this angry since Roy burned some of his hair off._

_She could only utter one word. "Marth…"_

"_I really do not want to hear you speak unless I tell you to." Marth snapped._

_She didn't know why, but she obeyed his words and stayed silent, She was too much in shock to say anything or even think it. He turned his back to her and held his sword out and let the blood drop to the ground. "I trusted you, Sam. Why did you do it?"_

_Samus didn't answer, too scared to figure out what the result would be. Her eyes watched his sword. _

_Marth turned around and glared at her. "Answer me!"_

_Samus turned her body as she saw his sword slowly moving up again. Marth spoke up again. "Did you think it would be funny?" Samus felt his sword being brought down on her bare back on her left shoulder. She gritted her teeth as it came down but the pain was horrible. He spoke again. "Did you think I would never find out?" The sword came down again and fell on her right shoulder this time. The pain was unbearable. She didn't fight back because she didn't have the strength and she still was trying to grip the fact that her own boyfriend was hurting her like this. It was not like him at all. But there was no way around it. It was definitely Marth._

_She could barely stay on her knees anymore but she kept her balance. Marth brought the sword that was practically almost red to her face. Samus's eyes were widening as she quivered in fear, which she hardly ever did. What this fear was… she did not know._

_Marth crouched down right next to her. "Well, I did and now you're going to talk. Why did you do this to me? Why would you go behind my back and kiss another guy?"_

"_Another guy?" Samus found her voice. She tried to reach out to him "I don't know what you're talking about."_

_Marth grabbed her hand tightly and started to bend it in breakable places. "Do not lie to me! I am sick of your lies!"_

_He stopped as soon as he realized he was about to break her hand. He let go and sighed in disgust. He got up and put his sword back in his sheath. "I'm done hurting you. Any more pain caused to you will get me kicked out. If you say one thing about what happened and I get kicked out for it I swear I will hunt you down and the pain will be much worse and no one will be able to do a thing."_

"_Marth I really do not understand what you are saying!" Samus said._

"_You stay here and think about it! Can't stand being here with you any longer." Marth glared at her with his icy eyes of hate one last time. He could see her emerald eyes were hurt but he couldn't care for a second. He left the woods not looking back. Samus sat there on her knees and looked in the direction he left. When he was gone she looked down. She looked around and found what she was looking for. The golden bracelet was right on her left side. She slowly tried to grab for it with her bruised right hand. As she reached it with her fingertips she grabbed it tightly in her palm. When it was close enough she opened her palm and opened her hand and looked at the bracelet. It was now bent in a few places and the chain had broke so it could know longer go on her hand. Samus didn't cry. She just sat on her knees and kept wondering why this happened._

**End of Flashback Story**

When the story was done Zelda had stopped healing the right leg she was healing. Peach had a tight grip on her dress and one fisted hand on her chest. The story was too horrible to be true but Samus hadn't said anything like "Just kidding" or anything else. She was looking back at her right hand empty and barren.

"After that. I stayed in the forest for what seemed like hours. I was still trying to recover from what he did. But then that's when the storm hit and I got that message to come to the inn but I didn't respond. I just walked out of the forest slowly since my right leg was still injured. But as I made it out and was heading to the inn, I saw him again and he saw me. He just stared at me and I stared at him from a distance. I didn't want to face him again so I ran the other way to who knew where. Well, the place ended up being back at my buddy's house and that's where I stayed till morning."

"Did they see your wounds?" Peach asked.

"No, I put my suit back on and hid them under there. And then they lent me the sweatshirt and pants." Samus sighed. "And that's the story."

Zelda had finished healing all three wounds. "You should feel better now." Samus looked at all of the injuries. They were no longer visible. Samus sighed. "The pain is gone. Thanks, Zel."

"It's no problem Samus." She frowned. "I still can't… I mean are you sure it was him?"

"No doubt about it. I know what you mean. I can't believe it either, but it was Marth. He had the same eyes that I loved. It could not have been anybody else." She moved her arms around and stretched._ Even though from the bottom of my heart I just wish that it were just a dream, it was reality._

Peach felt compassion for friend. "I am so sorry, Samus. This must be hard for you."

"It is and I just don't what to say to him. He wouldn't listen to me that night and he probably wouldn't listen now." Samus sighed. "But I don't know why."

"Why what?" Peach asked.

"There are many why's Peach. Why did he attack me? Why did he accuse me of something like that? Why he felt no concern for me when I was hurt? Why he didn't care why I didn't return last night? Why I don't know what to feel about this whole thing?" She got up. And headed towards the outside balcony. She walked to the railing and looked at the view. Her friends were right behind her. "Why did we end up at the SSBM mansion together? Why did we meet each other? Why did we help each other through are time of need? Why did we become close and then…" She gripped the railing hard. "Why did we fall in love?"

She felt so miserable but no tears were falling down her face. She was just a bundle of sadness. "It all just doesn't make sense. Was that the fate by accepting that stupid bracelet!"

Zelda and Peach looked at her full of sorrowful emotions. But Zelda had one more emotion that Peach did not. Rage. She tapped Peach lightly. "I'll be right back." Peach mouthed to her "Where are you going?" Zelda didn't answer as she quietly started to leave.

Samus flipped her head around. "Zelda, wait." Zelda stopped and turned to look at the bounty hunter. She had a serious and firm look on her face. "Do not talk to Marth about it. Please, Zel. I'm not ready yet."

"Me? Go talk to him?" Zelda giggled. "Don't be silly, Sam. I'm not going to talk to him about anything."

Samus nodded and fully turned around. "Good because I trust you won't talk to him right?"

Zelda brushed off Samus's suspicion with her right hand. "Of course. I'm not going to say a thing. Just going to take a little walk." She looked through the corner of her eye to see Peach staring at her funny. She just grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "I'll be back in a while. And it'll be okay, Sam. I promise." Zelda kept her smile on till she was out the door. Her face fell to a frown. She actually was going to talk to Marth about the whole thing. She was going to go against her friend's wishes and go talk to him anyway but decided that wouldn't be too wise. She decided to just take that walk instead.

She walked out of the hotel and into the busy streets. She didn't know where she was going but she kept going straight and kept her head facing forward. Her thoughts were still on her friend. She was still wondering why he would do such a thing to his girlfriend. She passed many stores with some lovely dresses but she stopped when she looked in the store window at a lovely pink dress. She smiled. _I wonder what Link would think of that dress._

"Well, if it isn't Princess Zelda." A voice sneered.

Zelda knew that voice too well. "What do you want now, Veronica?"

Veronica walked up to her and stood in front of her. She was wearing a purple halter-top and blue jeans. "Nothing. I'm just passing by." She looked up at the window at the dress Zelda was looking at. "I bet you were thinking this dress would look great on you and get Link to yourself, huh?"

"Please. I was thinking no such thing."

"Sure, you weren't. What did I tell you about staying away from my Link?"

"First of all, he's not your Link. He's no one's property. And second, I can talk to whom I want and you can't do anything about it, but stare in awe. And by the way I know it was you who started that fire and got us in trouble two nights ago."

"Who? Me? You must be confused. I would never do such a thing. Did you ever consider that maybe one of your friends probably did it?"

"My what?" Zelda snapped.

Roy just so happened to be walking towards and he greeted her. "Hey, Z! What are you doing with the Witch of Evil?"

Veronica glared his way. "Look, pyro boy. I'm just telling her that some of her friends cannot be trusted."

"What do you mean? I think you mean that you can't be trusted!" Zelda snapped.

Veronica frowned. "Sounds like someone doesn't know their friends too well." Veronica turned and walked. Zelda scowled as she left. How she hated her.

"Zel forget about her. Do you know where Marth is by any chance?"

"No! I don't know where that jerk is."

"Whoa, what's with the snappiness?" Roy asked, shocked about Zelda's reaction.

Zelda sighed. "Sorry, it's just about what Samus told me about Marth."

"Oh, you mean about him seeing Samus with another guy." Roy answered.

"Exactly. Did Marth tell you?" Roy nodded. She frowned. "I can't believe he would accuse Samus about being with another guy. I mean why would she do anything like that?" She's one of the most honest people I know and…"

"Um, Zel? Did Samus happen to tell you who the guy was?" Roy asked.

"No. She said she didn't know what he was talking about. She didn't know any other guy."

"Really? So, she didn't tell you who the guy was." Roy concluded. "That's why you're so calm about this."

"Why should I not be calm?"

Roy heaved a large sigh. He looked at her seriously. "Zel, I don't know how to tell you this but... when Marth was talking about the guy Samus was kissing… he meant Link."

**A/N: I have nothing to say except… please review!**


	14. The Bond Between Best Friends Broken

**Well here it is. You may like it and then again you may not like this chapter. I do not know. But I'll tell you its hecka long. I want you guys to do me a favor. Tell me your favorite chapter please or character if it's not too much trouble. Thanks in advance! In the words of Mario "HERE WE GOOOO!"**

**Chapter 14**

**The Bond Between Best Friends Broken**

Zelda stared at Roy long and hard. "W-What did you just say?"

"I'm sorry, Zelda. This is what I heard from Marth and he's dead serious about the whole thing. Link and Samus ki-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Zelda yelled at the swordsman. "I don't want to hear it again!"

"Zelda, you need to know this," Roy said calmly.

"I don't because it's a lie. That would never ever happen. She's my best friend. She even told me the first time I met her that she didn't like Link that way. Just as a friend."

"But even so. It could be a lie." Roy pointed out.

Zelda stopped Roy by holding her hand up. He instantly stopped talking. She then held one finger up. "Just answer me this one question. Did you even see this happen?"

"Look, I'm just telling you-

Zelda cut him off sharply. "I did not ask for an explanation. It's a "yes" or "no" question, so answer it." Zelda didn't usually find any reason to get mad at Roy. But she knew Samus better than she knew Roy, and she wasn't going to let him accuse her of such a thing.

"No, I didn't see it actually happen but-"

"I've heard enough." Zelda turned from Roy and adjusted her purse on her shoulder. "You know, you two need to get facts and visuals straight before you come gossiping. That's something I would expect little kids to do." Zelda proceeded to leaving.

Roy placed his hand on her shoulder. He spoke when Zelda finally turned to face him. "Okay. I may not have seen it, but Marth did. He said he saw it happen when they were on Serine Isle." Zelda stared at him with an annoyed look on her face telling Roy to shut-up with his nonsense. "You may not believe it now, but she did. He wouldn't lie about such a thing. Don't you think so?"

Zelda removed his hand from her shoulder and glared at him. "Good-bye, Roy." She flipped back around and stomped away in anger.

He didn't try to go after her._ She'll find out sooner or later._

Zelda tried to shake what she just heard out of her head. But it just continued to remain in her mind. Her thoughts were very jumbled. _What am I all bent out of shape for? It's a lie. They would never… aah I can't even say it or think it. Sure they both have a close relationship with each other but that's only because they're like brother and sister. __But it always seemed sort of awkward to me how close they were. I was always kind of suspect of the two. But why would Samus try and help me get together with Link and try to be with him too? Yes, that's the reason why it must be a lie. No way she would lie to me. Samus looks out for me all the time and she would never try to hurt me. But then again… what am I saying? They didn't do it and that's final._

Zelda looked at the watch on her wrist. "I only have two hours left. Maybe I should go back and go see-"

Zelda stopped short as her head looked further ahead. She could see Peach looking through a store window not too far away. Peach looked Zelda's way before Zelda could call her name. She walked up the street and the two met towards the side of an intersection. Peach had two small bags in her hands and was looking quite pleased. "Zellie, I got in a little bit of shopping."

"Oh, I see." Zelda meekly said.

Peach found a bench and sat down on it. "You okay? You look sort of down."

"Me? Down?" Zelda sat down next to her. "No. I'm just thinking about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just smasher stuff."

"Smasher stuff like what?"

"Like some of people in our smasher company."

"Zellie, let's stop with the word tennis and just tell me what's wrong."

Zelda felt Peach was the only one to confide in. "Roy, told me something very disturbing. He told me that Samus and Link shared a kiss while we were on Serine Isle."

Peach gasped. "Really? Is Link the same guy Marth accused Sam about?" Zelda nodded. Peach punched her fist in the air. "Aha! I knew there was something going on with that boy!"

"What do you mean?"

"Link was being very defensive this morning, remember? And when we brought up Marth's name he got very snappy. It must have to do with the kiss. Link and Marth have not talked at all to each other since we came back."

Zelda picked at her finger nervously. "Then are you saying that you think they really… did kiss?"

Peach looked at her questionably. "Link and Sam? No, I actually don't. Marth must of saw two other people. Or maybe he..." Peach looked around. "You know what I think?

Zelda leaned in close as Peach leaned into her. "What do you think?"

"Well, between you and me, I've noticed that Marth gets really edgy around Link. Sometimes, I think he's really jealous that Link and Samus are such good friends."

Zelda's eyes widened. "Do you think he's possessive of Samus?"

"Oh no, of course not. He just really wishes he had enough time to be as close to Samus as Link is. Maybe even more." Peach giggled. "But what can you expect? They've been together at the Smash Mansion for so long."

Zelda's heart sunk a bit. "Yeah." _I have to admit, I'm jealous of how close Sam and Link are too. But I still don't believe that those two would do something behind our backs like that. _

Peach punched Zelda lightly in the shoulder. "They **_didn't_** kiss. Promise you. Stop thinking about it."

"Alright," Zelda sighed. "Do you know where Sam is, by the way?"

"Well, we headed out of the resort at the same time. I asked her to come with me to get her mind off of Marth. But shortly after you left, she decided to take a walk by herself. She said she'll meet us back at the resort later. So, I just let her go."

"I need to talk to her and Marth. Want to come with me?"

"Um... I wish I could, but I have more shopping to do." Peach got up quickly. "But hey, I'll tell you this. I saw Marth up in that direction." She pointed up north. "He's shouldn't be too far ahead."

"I hope not." Zelda got up too and stretched. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Alright." Peach watched Zelda start to walk up north. When she was far enough down the street Peach broke into a sprint. She still had planning to do for a certain girl's birthday.

**Out By Docks**

Marth had wandered off going straight wondering where it would lead him. His journey stopped when he reached the ocean. It was fine by him. He leaned against a pole on the dock and crossed his arms. He thought about what had happened last night. _Maybe I was a little rash towards Sam. But I was just so angry with her and I couldn't help myself. Didn't she care what I felt that day she kissed that so-called friend of mine?  
_  
Marth heard something drop to the ground and tumble away from him. He felt a little lighter all of a sudden. He looked down at his waist to see his sword was no longer strapped to him. He heard a tiny splash. He knew what had happened now. He sighed and ran over to the edge of the dock. His sword already plunged into the sea.

His jaw dropped in disbelief and then he groaned. _Great… just great. _He was getting to go down there to see if he could try and find his sword. But to his surprise, his sword started to float above into view. But to amaze him even more, the sword rose even higher. It kept floating till it was right back up to him and in reach. "What the…" he said quietly. He reached out and grabbed for the sword.

_I think you will need you sword in your matches._

Mewtwo appeared right next to Marth. It made Marth jump a little, but he held his fright by just acting like he was trying to flick his hair. He sighed and nodded._ Thanks Mewtwo. You're a lifesaver._

_It was no problem, young swordsman. So… did you handle your problem? Not rashly like last time I hope. _

_I haven't said anything to her yet. I think I pretty much scared her by my actions and she probably won't speak to me again. I should be pleased…_

_So, what holds you back? _The cat-like Pokemon asked. _Do you still have feelings for the young bounty hunter?_

_I…I don't know. I want to be mad at her but I can't. I guess I still do have feelings for her. I don't know why… usually when people make me mad I'm through with them… but Samus. She's different._

_I'm not one who's all for emotions but you know it's love young swordsman. She means the world to you. Now, Samus. I don't know what could have possibly urged her to do such a thing, but she probably thinks that she was wrong by doing so. Is there any reason for her doing this behind your back with your friend Link? Did you leave her or anything?_

_I did go away to Altea. But it was only for a while. She didn't seem upset about me leaving. Seems like that to me anyway, since Link was being her supportive companion while I was gone. And that's why it happened._

_I think that's reasonable. Hmm… we have company._

"Hello, Mewtwo and Marth."

Marth found Princess Zelda walking over onto to the dock to him. She had a light smile on her face and was fiddling with her fingers. "Mewtwo, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Princess. I will see you all shortly." Mewtwo closed his eyes and was gone in a blink of an eye. Marth looked at the spot were Mewtwo once stood and then to Zelda. She was waiting for his eyes to be on her. He shifted his weight on to his left foot as Zelda came a little closer. He decided to break the silence. "Yes, Princess?"

Zelda decided not to correct Marth's actions by calling her princess. "I heard some info from Roy about Link and Samus well...doing what you think they were doing."

Marth faced the princess. "I'm not lying about this, Zelda. She may be your best friend, but she can lie to you."

"Marth, how do you know that you're sure? It could have been someone else. Listen to yourself. You're accusing someone you really care about."

"I know I am, Zelda. But I am more sure than ever that it was her. No other girl has green eyes as pretty she does. No one has a smile like she had and no one... absolutely no one has the same bracelet on their wrist. It was her, no doubt about it."

"I'm not so sure I believe that."

Marth raised an eyebrow and tapped his sword. "Not to be rude or anything, Zelda. But your choice to believe or not, matters little to me."

Zelda glared at him. _He's had such an attitude lately. This must be hurting him._ She remained silent as Marth took a deep sigh. He gave her a look, saying he was sorry. "Sorry, I spoke out of turn. This whole situation is just frustrating. I've never done anything to her and then she goes and does this to me. "

Flashbacks about what happened earlier started coming back in Zelda's head. The injuries on Samus and the sad story she told her. She had to know. Zelda sniffed the sea air as she looked at the view. "Marth, can you tell me about what happened between you and Sam after the whole kiss thing?"

"Sure. I will. What really…" Marth looked past the Princess in the direction of the town. He stopped in mid-sentence and eyed the place. Zelda turned around to look in the direction. "What is it?"

"It's nothing. Thought I saw someone. Let's go talk about this at a restaurant. I'm very hungry."

"Well, okay. I'm kind of hungry myself."

"Alright, I have a place in mind." Marth and Zelda walked off the dock to their destination.

**Another Part of Town 25 minutes later….**

Samus walked very slowly through the streets of Nintendo. It was as busy as ever. The traffic was slow today with the festival coming up in a few hours. So, walking on the street was the way to go at this time. Except she didn't know exactly where she was going. She was going to find some type of store to get some parts for her ship, but changed her mind. She was not in the mood. Her boots left an echo on the concrete as she took every step. She had changed into khaki pants and a navy blue button shirt with no sleeves but a collar. The collar was a V-neck style and there was a white tank top under it. Her hair was up in a bun with many strands of her hair hanging out of the bun and she had few strands of blonde hair hanging on her face as bangs.

She looked in her pocket. Inside was the gold bracelet given to her from Marth. She had just gone into a jewelry shop and had gotten the chain fixed. But now she was wondering if she even wanted to put it back on her wrist or throw it out in the street and let it get smashed. Until that decision was made, it remained secured in her pocket.

Samus' face was less pale and her eyes didn't looked dead anymore. She was no longer scared and confused by Marth's actions. Her fear had changed to sadness. Her emotions were slowly changing every time she would think about him. She was getting ready to turn the corner when she stopped shortly. She was looking over at a restaurant and she saw Zelda and not only Zelda but also Marth. They were sitting at one of the tables outside the restaurant. It looked like they had just finished eating. They were talking about something very serious.

_What are they talking about? _Samus quickly crept over to the restaurant and crouched behind a bush that was right next to their table. She couldn't see them but she could recognize their voices from all the other ones.

"So, that's basically all that happened." Samus recognized that voice as Marth's. She remained as quiet as she could so she could hear well.

Over on the other side of the bush Marth was crossing his hands. "That's all I did. I didn't do anything to her besides that. Grabbed her arm once and maybe I grabbed a little too tight but that was the only thing I did."

Zelda said quietly. "But… what about all those cuts?"

"Zel, I swear I did not do that to her. I would never try to hurt anyone like that."

Zelda was silent. She had nothing to say. At least that's what it seemed like anyway to Samus. But then she heard Zelda speak. "I didn't really think you would do anything like that to her. Maybe she was wrong after all. I told her it might have been someone else, but she was certain it was you. I still cannot believe they kissed."

"Neither can I. Link and Sam its just so… I can't imagine it and it makes me sick to my stomach to see this from my friends. Those two are supposed to be the ones we can trust."

Samus felt her heart tighten. _Oh my god. How did they find out? We swore we wouldn't say anything about it, but they know. What's going on?_

"I don't think that really happened, Marth. It couldn't have been them. I have to see it to believe it. She sure can exaggerate though, huh?"

"She does get carried away at times. Sometimes, I wonder how I deal with her. I don't know what to say to her. That's why I was talking to Mewtwo."

"I see. Maybe we should talk to her again just to test if she's telling the truth or not. She might say something different or add onto the story." Zelda couldn't think of anything else to say. It was already hard enough to hear both of their stories.

Samus on the other hand was getting ready to lose balance from crouching. The words from her so-called friend were stinging her heart like the stinger of a bee. She was trembling a little and her eyes were getting blurry. She knew what these feelings meant. She resumed her crouching position and moved away from the bush and from her friends in stealth. She had heard enough. As soon as she was away from them, she got up and walked the opposite way. She broke into a run when she could still hear their voices. They were poisoning her mind.

She kept running bumping into almost every other person on the way. She didn't want it to happen, but tears started leaking from her eyes. _It's their fault! These emotional people I met at that stupid mansion! Now they're making me actually feel terrible, when my OWN friends don't believe me._

She looked around and found a park. The park was completely empty which was something positive for her to look at. No one had to see her cry. She tried her best to stop the tears but they just kept falling.

At times like these, girls would call their mothers up and talk to them. And her mother being dead along with the rest of her family made it impossible for that to happen. She put her hand on her golden chain of her S necklace. It was still as shiny as ever and still could not be opened. She had no one else to talk to. She gripped it hard. Anger seemed to rush over her. It was almost fury that couldn't be controlled. She was going back to her angry self she used to be before she had friends. She was furious with Zelda. She told her not to talk to Marth and she did anyway. And to top it off she no longer believed Samus's story. It was the truth. And her best friend was not even defending her.

_I knew I should have stayed quiet about the whole thing. Who else doesn't believe me? _She scowled._ That's it! If this is the way they're going to be, I'll play their little game but I'll play much harder!_

**The Streets**

Zelda followed Marth out of the restaurant after eating. He had remained silent right after he was done eating but later decided to bring up the subject of her birthday to forget about the whole ordeal. It may have been a good idea to talk about it, but they were not enjoying the conversation. By the time they were done, they decided to return back to the resort and wait till time to leave for the big festival. These five hours had been emotional for the two.

Zelda watched Marth walk faster and faster away from her. Or maybe it was her walking slower and slower. She didn't know.

Her mind was on what was going to happen with her friendship with Link, Samus, and Marth. All four of them were having issues and were barely speaking to each other. Marth seemed more distant and he never seemed to have a book with him like he used to. Samus was becoming secretive… again. Her story did seem like a lie to Zelda and she didn't know if she could even talk to her friend and see if she is telling the truth or not.

And Link. What was there to say about him? They were having an on and off friendship. One day they're angry at each other and the next moment they are playing around like the good old days. And what if Link and Veronica did get together, what would happen to their lives? Dark and evil things perhaps? Possibly.

Next thing she knew she was bumping into Marth. Her face made contact with his back. Marth didn't respond to it though. Zelda looked from behind his back and there was Veronica again. She thought seeing Veronica once a day was already bad enough. Twice was pushing it.

"So you told her huh, Marth?" Veronica said. "Your girlfriend and Link together doing you know what?"

Marth glared at her. He didn't feel like talking to her. Zelda moved from behind him to his left side. "Veronica, do you have to put your nose in everyone's business?"

"Sorry, but I'm not talking to you. Take a number." She turned to Marth. "I want you to stop telling lies when it's obvious that Link loves me and no one else. You have false info." Veronica pointed a finger at Marth and returning the same icy glare.

"I know what I saw okay? It was no one else." Marth thought back to that day when he saw Samus' green eyes as they opened right after she kissed Link. She was smiling the way she usually did around him. But now it was meant for someone else. He couldn't take it anymore, he moved past Veronica. "Excuse me," he said roughly. He walked past them not waiting for Zelda.

Zelda followed after him. "Marth, wait!" She hurried her pace so she could keep up with him.

Veronica being left in the dust got angry and power-walked after them. "Hey! I'm not finished yet!"

* * *

A little further up in the direction Marth was going, Link was walking back home. But Link was unaware of how close Marth was. He was just humming the song Saria had taught him. He could really use her help at the moment but he didn't want to bother her with such petty problems. Life was difficult for the young Hylian and he was only seventeen.

Troubles were rushing in his head. He had avoided almost all his friends but mainly Marth and Samus. He had just recently decided to avoid Zelda too, since he was starting to find it more difficult to keep a straight face in front of her. He felt a tug at his hat and moved his eyes to look up. Pichu was trying her best to keep a balance on his head. But her tiny legs kept slipping off his head. She would whine every time she slipped and Link laughed. At least Pichu was someone to talk to. Unlike the other pokemon, Pichu couldn't say anything to anybody since she didn't know English yet. But then again she could blab to Pikachu, Jigglypuff, or Mewtwo and they could tell other people since they can speak English and then gossip will spread. But what were the chances of that happening.

_Pretty slim. _He concluded_. Pichu's only five, she won't remember a thing I say. Oh Farore why was I born so gosh darn good-looking?_ He brushed his blonde hair out of his face. Just as he thought everything would be fine, he saw Samus heading towards the resort. She was in front of him. But very far ahead.

Link stopped short and took a few steps back. _Maybe if I wait a little longer she won't turn back and I'll be free from everything. Yes. Oh no! _Link had turned around and saw three other familiar people. _Zelda, Marth, and Veronica are behind me. _He looked up at the skies._ Oh how could this day get any worse?_

Pichu seeing Samus ahead chirped in glee. She jumped off Link's head and onto the ground. She looked at Link. He was waving his hands and shaking his head. "Pichu don't you dar-"

Pichu didn't understand and let out a large. "PICHU!"

The yell echoed through Link's ears. It wasn't really loud at all, but it seemed like it to Link. He knew now that his fate was sealed. But Samus didn't turn around. _Maybe Samus didn't hear her._

"Pichu pi!" Pichu shouted. Samus turned around that time. She instantly stopped walking.

"Pichu?" she said as she looked his way. Link groaned. _If she didn't hear the first time she heard it now. _He closed his eyes in frustration._ What am I going to do? Hold on a second. I can't keep dodging them like this. I have to say something to them. I have the triforce of courage I can do this. _He looked to see Zelda coming closer. _But wisdom beats courage by a long shot, so I'll talk to Sam first._

He picked up Pichu quickly and ran over to Samus. Before she could get a word in Link interrupted her. "Hey Sam. What's going on?"

Samus lightly smiled. "Nothing much." Pichu saw a candy shop through the corner of her eye. She got free from Link's grasp and scampered off.

_No ,don't leave. I need moral support. Heh…how am I going to get that from a pokemon? _He sighed. Link noticed Samus's eyes were a little puffy and they were a pinkish color. "Hey, are you okay? You look live you have been crying."

"Oh, you can tell? Darn, I'm trying to hide it." She covered her face in embarrassment. "How will this look to other people? I'm a bounty hunter and I shouldn't cry."

Link place a hand on her shoulder. "Some of the strongest people cry, Sam. It's natural." Samus removed her hands and looked at Link. Link wish she hadn't because her green eyes were looking stunning even when she was upset. Link couldn't keep her eyes of her._ Man, she's beautiful… no stop! NOT AGAIN! It will not happen._ He removed his hand from her shoulder thinking that was only thing he could do and then he took a tiny step back but Samus took a much bigger step closer to him.

She placed her hands behind her back. "What's wrong?"

Link placed his arms behind the back of his head and turned his head the other way. "Nothing Sammie… I mean Sam."

"Sammie?" She smiled and tried to look at his face even though he was facing the other way. "That's what my friends call me. You usually just call me Sam. Only one other boy calls me that and that's Marth."

"Oh, no kidding?" Link said with a nervous laugh. Courage wasn't helping him right now.

Samus finally got a chance to look at his face. "Hey, you're turning as red as a tomato. You sure you're okay?"

"Positive, Samus." He said. _Why can't I call her Sam?_ He thought in a panic.

Samus smiled a very different smile from all her other ones. It was an addicting one that made Link look at her. Specifically right in her green eyes. "Link, are you trying to tell me something? You used to talk to me with no problem before. What's the sudden change? Is there something on my face?"

"N-No Samus. You look absolutely beautiful!" He blurted out. He couldn't believe what he had just said._ Beautiful? What's wrong with me?_

"Thank- you. But I usually get that remark from Marth. Link? Are you starting to…"

"Like you as more than just a friend? No, of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?" He sputtered out quickly.

Samus' face scrunched. "I didn't say that." She got even closer. His eyes kept following her. "Are you indicating it?"

Link took a good look at the bounty hunter. He had to admit she was beautiful but this was his good friend's girlfriend and he was breaking the boundaries of being this close to Samus. He was even surprised how Marth even let him hang out with her alone. Marth really trusted Link to never try to take Samus away from him. Like what was happening now. He had to stop her. "No, Sam. I actually need to talk to you about what happened. That kiss…"

"Oh, the kiss? " She got up into Link's face. "Was it a little forceful? I can ease up next time and make it nice and slow."

"Samus, don't." Link stepped back. But she kept getting closer. He placed both of his hands on Samus's shoulders. "You can't do this."

Samus stopped and frowned. "Why not? Marth goes and leaves me for a long time and expects me to be waiting for him. I felt lonely without him. But you… just like before… Link you comforted me." She walked even closer. "So I thought… maybe you and me were… meant to be."

Link could not believe what Samus was saying to him. This girl had changed ever since Marth came into her life. So much emotion. He was starting to miss the Samus that was cocky. "It's not supposed to be, Sam."

Samus removed his hands from her shoulders and just held them in her hands. "It should be. Why should I have to be with someone who doesn't even spend enough time with me."

"You should talk to him about it. Not me."

"Link, he tried to hurt me! He and Zelda were just at a restaurant talking about you and me. About the whole kiss and everything and now they both probably are going to lash out at me. And you don't care?" she asked hoping he would give the right answer.

Link remembered Samus telling him about that. "Sam, I do care a lot about you! It's just that-"

"LINK!"

Link turned around. He knew who it was. Veronica was walking down to him in anger. She was furious. "Is what he said true? You really did kiss this girl?" Veronica's eyes stared at Samus so cold.

"Wait, it's not what you…" He stopped and his heart stopped. Further behind her was Zelda and Marth and they were both staring at him with a mixture of hurt and shock. But Zelda's face was the worst. She looked like she was going to crack at any moment. Link forgot about Veronica and Samus instantly. He looked at Marth first. He was looking at him in disgust. Before he could say anything Marth flipped back around and went down another street. That left Zelda. Zelda just couldn't keep her eyes off Link or Samus. They were both guilty of it. She had heard the whole thing. Link was staring back at her. He was trying to communicate to her, but she was not trying to get what he was saying. She looked at Samus. Unlike Link, she didn't seem to care. This made Zelda feel even more angered. They were both guilty.

Link wasn't even listening to Veronica who was still barking at him for demands.

Zelda couldn't find a single word to say. _It wasn't even Veronica. It was just my friends. No tricks at all. No actors… nothing. Just those two. They really did kiss. And Samus really likes him. She lied to me. Both of them did._

"Samus, I can't believe you. And Link… I just…." Zelda said her voice was cracking. She could feel tears coming on and she wished she could poof them away but she knew it was impossible. She let them fall as she started to run away.

"Zelda, hold on!" Link watched her leave quickly with her heels clicking. He knew that was going to happen. It was predictable. This was about the second time she had stormed off angry with him. Link looked at Samus. She hadn't said a word yet. She was just staring in surprise still.

"I'm going to try and talk to her."

"Talk to her? What about me?" Veronica said in disbelief. "I'm the one hurt here! Can't you forget her about her for one second?"

"No, I can't, Veronica. She's my friend and I need to check on her. I'll see you when I see ya!" Link took off in a run after Zelda.

Veronica stared off at his tracks. Oh, how she hated Zelda more than ever. She was getting in the way. She couldn't take it anymore. She would not let Zelda have Link. She scowled. "Ooh, she's such a drama queen. Just to get some attention." She turned her head to Samus who was still looking away. "You, this is your fault, you know? You had to lie to your friend and fall in love with Link. Looks like I'm going to keep an eye on you!"

Samus looked at her for one second. The look was kind of harsh and it made Veronica quiver a bit. But luckily for her she still didn't say anything. Samus just flipped back around and headed for the Hotel. On her way, Pichu came out of the candy store and ran up to Samus. Samus picked up the little pokemon and let her ride on her shoulder as they walked leaving Veronica alone again.

Veronica growled in anger._ I HATE THEM ALL! OOH I'M GOING TO HANDLE THEM! THOSE LITTLE…UGH! I HATE THEM! HATE! HATE! HATE! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THEM. I'LL TAKE CARE OF THEM ALL AND THEN Link will be left for me. _Veronica smiled to herself, as soon as they were gone. _But it looks like this little plan, will finally break these chummy buddies apart. I'm such a great actress!_

**At the Hotel**

Zelda opened her eyes. When she looked up she saw she was at the Resort. She knew ahead of time Link was going to come after her so she chose to get him off her trail by using Farore's Wind to get away from him after running for 5 minutes. She decided it would take him a while to catch on.

She didn't know why she was back here. Where was she going to go? She couldn't go to her room. She shared it with an untrustworthy friend. She could go to Peach's room but that was the lair of the evil Veronica. Where was she to go? The question kept echoing in her mind. She looked at her watch 30 minutes were left until time to go to the festival.

_This will be an interesting festival. With friendships ruined I don't know what will happen. Is it over for all of us?_ Zelda wondered. She walked up the steps slowly still deciding where she would go. As she opened the door to the Resort, loud voices boomed through her Hylian ears. More Nintendo characters had arrived and were checking in. It was one of the rowdiest groups ever and some of the character looked weird. She saw some of her fellow smashers talking to the new arrivals.

They all looked like they were having a fun time talking. How she longed for that fun, she used to have with her own friends. She found herself in front of an elevator. The elevator was over towering Zelda and it looked like it was glaring down at her. She felt her knees knocking._ Do I even dare? Oh what's to lose?_ She pressed the button and the elevator opened slowly. There wasn't a single person in there, just like last time. She inspected it. It didn't look shaky the least bit so she judged it to be safe. She walked in and pressed the floor number 7 button and the doors closed slowly. The gravity started to shift under her feet as the elevator ascended.

1…2…3…4…

"So far, so good." Zelda said to herself to relax.

…5…6…7

The elevator came to a stop. It was quiet for a moment. And then there was a "DING!" and the elevators doors opened. She had made it to the seventh floor safely. She smiled, realizing the fear of elevators was now a thing of the past. Now she could go and…

"Would you just listen to me?" a voice said.

"I don't want to hear another word from you. You've said enough!" another voice said.

These voices were very familiar to the Princess. Too familiar. She peered out of the elevator to see Marth and Samus standing right out by the railing. Samus was standing across from Marth with her fists balled up. Marth was standing in a casual way, but he still looked angry.

"Samus, you lied about getting hurt. I didn't cut you or anything." he snapped.

"Don't lie to me! It was you and no one else. You keep changing the story!"

"It was a minor injury."

"A minor injury? You call that a minor injury! You better get your eyes checked!" Samus crossed her arms. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I can ask you the same question, Samus. Why would you go and kiss another guy and forget all about me. I heard what you said to him."

"So, you did. Eavesdropping as usual, huh? I knew I was right when we first got together! You are so possessive!"

"I wouldn't have to be, if I felt like I could trust you. All I'm trying to be is protective over you, Sam. You used to always be alone and then I came along and tried to the best that I can for you."

Samus narrowed her eyes. "Whatever! Save it, Marth! Your talk is meaningless. You take things to the extreme and you don't care what happens to anybody. You could have severely hurt me."

"For the last time, I did not cut you. Why would I do something like that?"

"Because you're jealous…"

"Jealous? Of who dare I ask?"

"You really can't hide it, Marth. You get really jealous of Link."

"Me? Get jealous of someone like him?"

"Don't try to deny it! You know why you get jealous of him and you don't even want to take the chance to think why you do."

"And I won't either. If you think it's because you two are so close as friends, then you're wrong. Is that your reason for me trying to "slice" you?" He put emphasis on the slice word.

"Exactly. You can't hide it anymore."

"That's trash, Samus. Just trash. I didn't do anything to you." He grabbed her hand and held it up to her face. "The only thing I did to you was twist this hand but I did not strike you with my sword."

Samus jerked her hand away from him and it froze in place. She looked down at his sword. "Take it out."

"Take what out?"

"Take out your stupid sword! What else?" she said quickly. She was very annoyed with him and the feeling was mutual to him.

Marth reached for his sword without taking his eyes off her. He didn't know why he spoke to her when he saw her coming down the hallway. He was going to walk by, but he could not ignore her when his eyes met with hers. He pulled his sword out quickly and held it in his hand. "You won't find anything."

"I'll be the judge of that." She looked along the blade. She placed her finger on it and went across the blade. She stopped when she was towards the tip of her sword. Without removing her finger she held the sword up close and squinted. She pricked something off it. She held it up to Marth. "You see?"

"I don't see anything."

"This is from the fabric of my jeans. And to top it off , there is dry blood on it." She dropped it in his hand.

Marth inspected this for himself he could see it was a fabric and there were tiny tidbits of dry blood. "I'm not convinced. That could be anything."

"Really? When was the last time you covered your sword in blood? You clean it every time. But you can never clean off all the blood from a horrible thing you do." She quoted the saying like it was a famous saying. Her eyes were partially hurt.

Marth still did not give in. "All I did was twist your arm." he explained once again.

"And you did so much more." She sighed to brush off the sadness. "I trusted you, Marth," she said quietly.

"And I trusted you, Samus. You went behind my back with Link. And you tried to hide it thinking I would never find out. I was there when you crushed me, Samus. I was there when you stabbed me in the back just like Link."

"Here you go again with this nonsense." Samus rolled her eyes. "You're like a broken record."

"You can insult me all you want. But do realize you're not even answering my question. You keep brushing it away."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "And that question would be…"

Zelda stepped out towards them. "That question would be if you really did kiss him."

Samus watched her come towards them. She didn't want to have to start with Zelda. She had enough to be mad at her about. "I'm surprised you even came here after you just blew off what I told you not do. I told you not to talk to him."

Zelda mustered up a mean look. "I'm surprised you're even showing your face after what you did."

Samus didn't show any concern. "Such horrible friends."

Zelda's jaw dropped. "Horrible friends? You're one to talk. You lied to me when you said you didn't like Link. I believed you but you were just playing me for a fool. I'm interested in knowing what else you've been lying about!" she said angrily.

The elevator door opened again and to further the argument even more, Link came out of the double doors. First person, he saw was Zelda. "Zelda, listen I can explain."

"You don't have to put a show on for us, Link. You want to talk to Samus,go right ahead. You don't care about Zelda the least bit." Marth's face was full of hatred for Link.

Link stood shocked. "I didn't do it on purpose! She came on to me."

Samus's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "EXCUSE ME! You were the one who told me how much you liked me!"

Marth rolled his eyes. "I knew it from the start. You always did like her."

"No one liked him, you idiot! And I especially do not like him right now!" Samus was now getting angry with all three of them. They were in this together.

"Don't call him names, Samus! He's done nothing to you." Zelda defended Marth.

"Now look who's being protective, and over my guy too. But that's fine with me. I no longer know what he is to me." Samus gave Marth a hard shove towards Zelda. "You can have him if you want and I'll fly solo. In fact, why don't all three of you get together? You have so much in common after all, being rotten, lying, backstabbing friends."

Link placed a hand on his chest. "Gee, that almost hurt for a second there, Samus. I could've of sworn my heart was going to break!" he said in an angry sarcastic tone. "You're the reason Zelda's mad at me!"

Samus didn't lighten up on any of them. "If this is the part where I am supposed to start caring, it's not working." She turned back to Zelda. "And you. I thought I could trust you not to tell Marth about what happened. But I guess you got a mouth as wide as Peach's. And to top it off, you believe him instead of me."

"And it's a good thing I did talk to him. Or else I wouldn't have known the truth. Your story sounded like a lie from the start." Zelda placed her hands on her hips.

"You would say that!" Samus snapped.

Zelda returned the snap. "Samus, we wouldn't be in this argument if you would just for once tell the truth. Did you do it? Did you two really kiss?"

For once Samus was quiet and this puzzled the other three. It was like she was fishing for something to say. After what seemed like forever she lowered her head and sighed. "I can't deny that it did not happen. We did."

Zelda looked at Link. She was as miserable as ever.

"Guys, this is ridiculous. We need to stop this." Link was already looking at Zelda pleading with her with his eyes. "Zelda, please. It was a total mistake. It'll never happen again. Marth, you can believe me one more time can't you? It was forced on me. It was just a mood swing, it hasn't happened since then. And out in the streets just now, she backed off and I did too."

Samus wasn't really listening. She was still looking down at her shoes. Zelda couldn't see her face because her bangs were blocking it. Link grabbed for Zelda's hands. "Zelda just don't be mad at me or her. I hate it when we fight."

"I…" Zelda didn't know what to say. She looked into Link's aquamarine eyes. They showed signs of trust in them. And she didn't know why, but the eyes of the Hero of Time won her over. "I don't know. This is bigger than any other fight we had. If we do make-up, there has got to be some changes."

Marth looked at Link and nodded. "For the better."

"There will be. I promise you. It was just because of some slight loneliness Samus had. But that's all over. Let's just all make up."

Zelda decided to go along with it. "Fine. But I'm telling you, Link. Our friendship is really going to change. But I'll forgive you."

Link felt a smile forming on his face. "That's great!" He looked over at Marth.

Marth dropped his arms and pushed some hair out of his face. "I'm really going to have think about this too. But it's okay for now."

Link smiled. "This is great. So we're going to continue our friendship."

"Correction. You guys are."

Marth, Zelda, and Link looked at Samus. Her head was finally up and she was looking angrier than ever. She turned to Link, lessening her angered face."Hate to break it you, Link. But it's not that simple. Not for me anyway. You all really hurt me."

Link's expression dropped in milliseconds. "But…"

"That's fine with me," Zelda said still angry with her. "I'm not quite forgiving of you just yet anyway."

Hearing Zelda's voice, made Samus' anger return. "Good. Because I'm never going to forget anything you guys said to me. In fact, I don't even want anything to do with you three ever again," she said with no regret.

Samus's words hit them all pretty hard. They were the strongest words she had said all day. She showed no signs saying she was joking either. She was being for real. Samus turned from them. "Take a picture, because this is the last time the four of us will talk together."

Marth looked at the bounty hunter. She was taking it to a whole new level that he was hoping would never become. He was angry with her, but he did not want it to end like this. He was about to speak but another presence entered the area. All four of them looked to see Master Hand hovering over them. "What is going on here? I can hear you four yelling from my office!"

Samus answered since no one else responded. "It's nothing MH. Nothing but a final agreement to an end."

Master Hand did not catch on to what she meant. He nodded it off. "Well, I'm here to inform you that we're heading out to the bus right now. So, let's go right…"

Samus changed her expression. "I'm not going."

"Not going?" Master Hand echoed. "How can you not-"

"I SAID I'M NOT GOING! GET IT THROUGH THAT THICK-GLOVED SKULL OF YOURS!" she shouted at him.

Zelda lightly gasped at Samus's behavior. Marth was new to this furious Samus too. But Link wasn't. This is how she was when he first met her. She had reverted back to her old habits. Samus closed her eyes for a moment and then reopened them. "I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood. Not when I feel like I can trust anyone here. Later!" she started to speed off. She ran down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

Link tried to call to her. "Sam, come back!"

"Let her go, Link," Master Hand said calmly.

Link looked at the hand. "But…"

"She's obviously dealing with something big." Master Hand looked at Marth. "Do you know what's wrong?"

Marth just shrugged. He looked like he didn't care. But in his heart he was wishing that she stayed or he went after her. He was secretly hoping she would be alright, wherever she was heading. Master Hand looked at Zelda. "Do you know?

"Only the goddesses can tell," Zelda answered. Part of her was glad that she left and they weren't friends anymore and the other half was missing Samus already.

Link didn't say anything either. He just looked at the ground, wondering why all of this happened.

Receiving no good responses, Master Hand gave up. "Well, okay then… be downstairs in 5 minutes." Master Hand teleported away, which left the three alone again.

Link was worried for Samus, but he was wondering if Zelda and Marth were too. Marth's eyes had not left the stairs that Samus had escaped down.

Zelda sighed heavily and repeated it in her mind again. The friendship between her and Samus Aran was over. It was no more. And she didn't know what to feel. Confused? Happy? Mad? Sad? She did not know. All that was on her mind was Samus was done with her and Zelda was done with Samus. But what the four of them didn't know was their friendship being over was going to be their weakness.

**And that is it. Gee… I don't know if you guys can handle the next chapter. I don't think I should write it. It may be too rough. Maybe I should stop here and leave you with this. Nah, you have got to read the next one, but I don't think you'll be able to handle it. All I want to say is when you read it I hope you don't plan to murder me. Oh, you probably won't. Anyway please review and I'll get this next chapter rolling. I think there are about four chapters left. Don't miss 'em!**


	15. On Her Own

**Okay guys I did it. Let's see how you like this chapter. Can you handle it? If you can handle it, read on. If not, back away right now! It's not going to be pretty. And you can back off the story anytime you feel that you can't go on. Let me tell you a reason while you probably can't handle it. It's HECKA long! But if you like reading, go ahead. But I warn you because of its long length… read at your own risk! Oh yeah and thank-you guys your reviews from chapter 1 to this one. You guys are the best! Here we go.**

**Chapter 15**

**On Her Own **

The bus ride… it was like any other bus ride. Everyone was busy talking about what he or she did today and what he or she plans to do. The bus was as loud as usual , minus a few people who used to contribute to the noise. They were sitting in the back, dead silent. Five people were in their own little world thinking about the same thing. They were wondering if things were going to change for the better or for the worse. They were never ever silent because the five were good friends but now their friendship was evaporating into thin air. But who knew… maybe it was a positive thing? To them, it didn't seem that way, as hard as it was to deny their thoughts on it.

Peach and Roy, the two who were confused on their friends' behavior, looked at them, trying to get them say something. No avail. Zelda was staring out the window while humming to herself. Marth was facing straight ahead on the bus not looking at anyone in particular and Link had his ocarina out, but was not playing a single tune. All three of them looked like they were aliens to this world and did not know what to do or say.

"I just don't understand. How did this happen? I mean why did this happen?" Peach asked out loud.

"No one knows, Peach. It just happened. Some things happen for no reason at all." Zelda said quietly. She looked at the seat next to her. Her best friend used to always sit there. But the seat was now empty and probably would never be occupied by Samus now or ever again. It was over. The friendship was no more. Their thick line of trust had been chopped at till it snapped in two. She could never trust her again.

"That made no sense at all and you know it, Zelda. You guys were friends and now you aren't because of a dumb argument?" Peach questioned.

Zelda sat up straight in her seat. "What are you chewing me out for? I'm not the one who stormed and went only the goddesses know where! If you want to talk to me, you're going to have to drop this subject!" Zelda turned from Peach and looked out the window again. She kept her eyes off the hurt looks of Peach and Roy's faces. She didn't care. It was none of their business anyway.

Link finally put his ocarina always played it when he was happy or when he was sad. But he was neither. He was in the middle. He felt guilty for everything. The whole kiss and he felt guilty about Samus running off, even though it clearly was not his fault. But guilt surrounded him and choked him. He knew for sure that things would never be the same. And what about Veronica and Zelda?

That's where the whole thing started. He only had Zelda, but then Veronica came along and they became close and Link now knew they didn't like each other and he thinks he knows why. But there was much more of a reason to it. Link got up from his seat and moved forward. He had to find another seat. The silence was killing the young Hylian. He found a seat closer to the noise and sat down. Space was all he needed right now.

"So," Roy said after Link had departed. "What are you going to do?"

Marth looked up and realized Roy was talking to him. "About what?"

"About this whole argument. What you saw was true and Samus admitted it. What are you going to say to her when she comes back?"

Marth raised an eyebrow. "Absolutely nothing. What's there to say to her? She obviously felt right about what she did and I guess she wants it to be that way or no way at all. So I guess I'll accept it."

"Accept it? You two need to talk ASAP. That's what you do when you have a fight. I realize this is your first fight with her and all, but you don't have to take it to the extreme and not speak to each other."

"Roy, I'm handling this relationship quite fine. I don't need you to interfere. If you want to fix a relationship why don't you get a girlfriend, argue with her, and then find a way to patch it up, okay?" Marth said in easeful tone. He felt no regret about what he had just said.

Roy frowned. "Fine. But you'll realize sooner or later that you should talk to her." Roy got up from his seat and went up to the front.

Marth rested his head on the bus window and closed his eyes. He was getting a headache from out of nowhere. He sighed. _"I do not care. I do not care at all!_

**Time Goes By…**

Master Hand watched the bus of smashers appear from behind the mountain. Finally they were here and they could get this party started. Decorations were already set up for the event and the crowds of smasher fans plus other Nintendo characters had arrived. Master Hand had to admit that it felt pretty good to be head of the festival this time. What the other twelve smashers had said was right. They did get the bad end of the boot when they came here the first time.

They were treated like servants, slaves, or even worse, janitors. But it couldn't be helped, they were minors back in the day. They weren't as famous as they were now. Back then, the SSB Company wasn't as famous as the Mario Parties, not even one Mario Party by itself. But now they were at the top of everyone's lists. Top ranking and top in everything else they could throw at them. Life was good for Super Smash Brothers Melee. He remembered the first day he brought them all together. None of them ever got along. They always fought and argued but they got better as time passed. Some needed more time but, it all paid off and they soon were like one big happy family. And he was hoping it would always stay that way.

"Those are the smashers right, M.H?"

Master Hand looked to his left to see a man standing by him, waiting just like M.H was. He did a small hand gesture. "Yes, there they are."

The bus came to a screeching halt in the parking lot. Veronica rammed her head into the seat in front of her. She rubbed her head. "Ow." She muttered. She had been sleeping on the bus resting up for the day coming. Master Hand said he had a surprise for her. What would a hand have for her? She looked up and saw the smashers piling out of the bus.

She started to stretch as Zelda passed her, not making eye contact at all. Veronica thought of it as a relief but she could not decide what to do about her. Now that she knew Link and Samus had thing for each other, Veronica was wondering whether to leave Zelda alone and start getting on Samus's case.

She shook her head.

There was no way Zelda was getting off that easy.

Veronica got up when everyone piled off the bus. She made her way down the steps carefully, heading to the crowd of smashers. They were crowding around the floating hand again and someone else? She couldn't tell since she couldn't see over some of the smashers. She instead got close and listened to the voice.

"It's nice to finally meet you all. There's 26 of you right?"

"Actually 25, one did not come with us." Master Hand responded to the man's conjecture.

Murmuring started to spread through the crowd of smashers. They were saying things, like "twenty-five", "who's missing?" "Do you know who's missing" Veronica started to wonder who was missing. Her eyes fell on Zelda's group of friends. All five of them were standing there minus the bounty hunter. _Oh, Samus isn't here? Well isn't that just a horrible shame?_

"Well 25 is better than none right? So, where is my dear daughter, Veronica?"

"Daughter?" Veronica said quietly to herself. _It couldn't be._

Veronica looked up and started to push herself through the crowd not saying 'excuse me' or anything. She had to use all her might to push Bowser out of the way and she succeeded. When she was up front she saw him. There he was. His black hair greased and slicked back. Wearing one of his executive suits, blue eyes beaming, and a grin wider than the grinning Chesire cat. Rob Walden stood in front of her. He was already looking at her, grinning his rich guy bright smile. "Ronnie!"

Veronica couldn't do anything but smile. "Dad? Hey Daddy!" She grinned and floated into his arms (not literally) and gave him a big hug. Veronica concluded this was the big surprise Master Hand was talking about.

Her father looked her up and down. "Still looking as lovely as before. Just like your mother."

"Oh, Daddt, stop. You're embarrassing me." Veronica's cheeks turned rosy red.

Zelda was looking from the back with her arms crossed. _Well, he doesn't look evil like Veronica. But she didn't look evil either. She looked so innocent. Could it run in the family?_

Young Link, who stood on her left, laughed. "His grin reminds me of the guy I met in Clock Town who carried all those masks. Except his grin isn't as freaky as the mask man."

Pikachu sitting on his head cocked his head to the side. "I don't know. He has a creepy grin to me. It makes me nervous."

Popo and Ness glared at Veronica's dad. "He's probably some evil man who was abducted by aliens. Soon he will abduct us and makes us his slaves and then when he gets tired us, he'll eat us with his big chompers!" Ness said in a panic.

Popo nodded. "Yeah! Yeah! He'll swallow us and spit out our bones!"

Nana and Pichu, who were listening, started to whimper. They started to shrink behind Zelda since they were near her. Zelda could have sworn she heard a few sniffles. She rolled her eyes. Ness and Popo would always come up with some crazy story about a monster and scare people.

"Well, smashers. Let's head into the ceremony stadium. They're going to honor us and then Mr. Walden will say a speech about his life and how he came up with the idea." Master Hand led the way with Veronica and her dad behind them. The smashers followed after them.

"Oh great… break out the pillows and blankets. This is going to be boring." Falco said to Luigi and Fox. They couldn't help but agree along with everyone else. Who wanted to hear a dumb speech?

**Somewhere in Town**

Samus found herself walking past a bar. It was called "The Corner Pocket". It was definitely a regular bar with drinks, pool, and quite a few TVs on sports._ Sounds like my kind of place._ She said as she walked in the bar. When she walked in she felt many eyes on her. The loud conversations became softer. Some of the conversations changed to being about her. She heard some catcalls but she paid no heed to them as she proceeded to walk up to the bar counter. She sat down on a barstool and placed her hands on the counter. The bartender cleaning out a beer glass, answered to her attention. "What will it be, Miss?"

"Just water, please." Samus muttered. She placed her head in the palm of her hand. She had a large headache that came out of nowhere. She heard footsteps approach her.

"Aren't you that one robotic smasher Samus Aran?" It was a man's voice, a very raspy voice.

Samus turned around and lowered her eyes. "Yes, but I'm not a robot. Its just a suit."

"I see." The man had short brown hair. He looked no more than in his late 20's. He had crazy brown eyes that were red rimmed. They were signs that he was drunk or he just finished being it. "So there is a pretty face under that suit of armor." Every time the man spoke, Samus felt like gagging. His breath stunk to high heaven from all the beer odors still on his tongue. "I thought you were supposed to be at that… Nintendo Ceremony… or somethin'?"

Samus didn't respond to his question. She just turned back in her seat. She didn't have any other thing to say to the guy. His breath was making her dizzy.

"So…" the man started again. "Ya have a boyfriend?"

Samus didn't respond. But that was a good question. Did she anymore? Were the two finally over? "I'll take that as a no." the man chuckled. Samus turned around in her seat and glared at him. "You know there's this thing called personal space! Why don't you move because YOU'RE invading mine!"

The man just laughed his drunkard laugh. "Feisty one ain't she, boys?"

Another man with black hair and green eyes approached the two. "Mm-hmm Jay. And mighty fine looking too. She ain't no more than a 16 year old." He got close in Samus' face to confirm his answer. "Yep. No more no less."

Samus stood her ground and held her stance. "Good guess. Got something wrong with my age?"

"No, that's the age I'm looking for in my kind of woman. You're just perfect."

Jay cut him short. "Now hold on just a minute, Hyde." Samus gasped as she felt an unpleasant rub on her backside and then a firm grab. "I saw her first."

Samus felt her anger boiling over. She turned around quickly and kicked him right where cowbells ring. Jay doubled over and grabbed his sensitive spot. Samus stood up and looked down at him. "Do that again and I'll double the pain!"

Hyde got angry. "Jay! You little…

Samus ducked as she heard the fierce swipe of his fist coming to her head. She turned while she was crouched and stuck her foot out and drop kicked him right as his shins making him fall over. Hyde hit the floor hard and grabbed his head in pain. He tried to get up but Samus pressed her boot-covered foot down hard on his chest. Samus was over the line of being angry she was furious.

"Maybe you've forgotten, but I'm a smasher! If you wish to keep on breathing, back...away..." She was ready to take on anyone that messed with her.

A large man got up with a pool stick and hand. "You wench! You're going to pay!" He ran towards her with a pool stick. Samus stood in her fighting position. He tried to bring the stick down on her skull but Samus shot her two hands out and grabbed it stopping it inches away from her face. The man did not stop though. He kept trying to push it down, hoping Samus would back off. But Samus continued to push the stick back with all her might. But the man started to grin. He removed one hand from the stick and went to his backside. He pulled out a 2x4 with barbed wire on it. "I'll fix you!" he yelled. Samus gasped as he started to ready his weapon. She wasn't wearing her suit and she knew if that thing made contact with her face she would be knocked out cold and have a large bruise on her face. But it was too late to do anything about it. He brought down the weapon. Samus shut her eyes waiting for the pain.

"MOE!"

Moe, the guy Samus guessed was the person with the weapon and was about to clock her with it, stopped immediately. His eyes grew large and he started to tremble. He let go of both his weapons and they loudly hit the floor. He stumbled back and looked at the front door. Samus, recovering from her sudden attack, turned her gaze to the front door too. In front of the door was another guy who looked like a 21 year old. He had black hair and purple eyes. He was wearing a black sleeveless muscle shirt and black jeans. He had a sword strapped to his back like how Link's is, but minus the shield. His gaze at Moe was anything but nice.

"What do you think you're doing?" he said to Moe.

"I-I'm sorry Garrett. S-She attacked Jay and Hyde for no reason." Moe said.

Garrett walked over to Samus and looked at her. His gaze went up and down her body to check for injuries and then he looked at her wrist. He then turned back to Moe. "What did I tell you about attacking visitors especially when they're women? One of the SSB smashers even?"

"I remember, Garrett but she-"

"Garrett she attacked us, if anyone should be blamed it should be her!" Hyde said as he got up. Jay recovered from his injury and was now standing up. He was staring at Garrett in fear.

Garrett got in front of Samus. "No girl as honorable as her would do anything unless she was provoked by you two, which I don't doubt!"

"But, Garrett!" Jay pleaded.

"I don't want to hear it. Jay, Hyde, step outside now. You too, Moe."

The three immediately got up and went out the bar. Garrett walked after them. "Excuse me for a second."

As soon as they were outside conversations started up again. The bartender tapped Samus's shoulder. "Your water, miss."

"Uh…" Samus had forgotten all about the water. She slowly took the glass. "Thanks. So, who was that exactly?" She sat down on the barstool.

"Oh that's, Garrett. He's the most feared person here."

"Is that so?" She took a sip of her water.

"Yes. Some time ago, those same bullies were harassing him but he gave them all a scare and now no one messes with him. He didn't even have to pull out his sword. He used his fists and kicks to do the talking for him."

"Hmm…" Samus replied.

The door opened again and Garrett walked in. Behind him were Jay, Moe, and Hyde. They walked up to Samus. She rolled her eyes as they stopped in front of her. But they didn't do what she expected they might do. They stood with their heads lowered.

"We're sorry, Samus… I mean, Miss Aran." Hyde and Moe said.

"Yes, Miss Samus. We meant no harm by it. Just playing. Forgive us."

"Whatever, just don't try to do it again." Samus replied.

Garrett sat down next to Samus. "Okay. That's enough, boys. Get back to whatever you were doing." They obeyed him and went back to their seats. Garrett turned to the bartender. "The usual, Ace." The bartender nodded and went to go get his drink. Garrett turned to look at Samus. "I'm sorry about that, Samus. Just regular mooching Captain Falcons aren't they?"

"Uh yeah. How do you know my name?" Samus asked.

"Well, I can tell you're Samus. You have that raw attitude like the bounty hunter and you also talk like her. Besides I knew there was a tough and beautiful girl under there."

"Excuse me?" Samus said, about to get angry again.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about that. I'm not going to try to hit on you, that's not my style and besides, I know you have a guy in your life that I don't want to cross swords with."

"And you know I have a boyfriend? Let me tell you, I don't get along with stalkers." Samus warned him.

The bartender returned. "Here's your drink, Garrett."

"Thanks, Ace." Garrett took a large swig of the drink. It looked like a soda. "Kind of flat. I say once again, I'm not that kind of person. I get this information from a source."

"And that source would be?" Samus asked suspiciously.

Garrett didn't answer. He looked at his watch. "Can't tell you here. If you follow me, I'll tell you everything."

Samus narrowed her eyes. "I don't know. You might be leading me somewhere just to get me by myself to do whatever you want to me."

"Haha, you're really making this difficult aren't ya? But I don't blame you. Though I'm sure even if I were trying to, that'd be foolish with such a tough fighter as yourself?" Garrett joked before he picked up his drink and started to walk to a staircase. "It's just upstairs. Follow me if you want to know."

Samus sat there for a moment. She sighed and got up. _I'll give him a chance. He did save me after all._

**Nintendo Festival**

"Zelda, have you seen my lipstick?"

Zelda was fixing her hair in the mirror. "No, I haven't. Why don't you use one of the other thousand lipsticks you own?"

"Zellie, I can't use any other lipstick till I know the other one is safe. Otherwise I can't wear any make-up at all."

Roy walked by as Peach said that. "Ooh we wouldn't want that." He proceeded walking away.

"Ohh, one of these days, Roy..." Peach growled.

Zelda giggled and continued to straighten her hair. Pichu was in front of her playing around with Zelda's make-up. Zelda took the make-up away that Pichu was proceeding to put on her face. "You don't need make-up Pichu. You're already so cute." She hugged the little pokemon.

Link came by at that moment. "Hey girls. You look beautiful."

Zelda blushed. "Thank-you, Link. I…"

Peach got in Link's face. "How can you say that? I obviously am missing lipstick on my face."

"Eh heh heh. I hardly noticed Peach." Link remarked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I didn't notice. Ready to go, guys? He wants us on the stage now." Link began to walk away.

Zelda jumped up from her seat, forgetting Pichu was sitting in her lap. Pichu gave a small yell as she slipped to the floor. But Zelda didn't seem to notice. "Wait, I'll go with you!"

Pichu frowned as Zelda walked away. Peach patted Pichu on the head. "Don't mind her. She's just lovesick."

Peach helped Pichu up and Pichu scampered away. Peach's eyes fell on the mirror. "Hmm, I can 't go without that lipstick!"

Roy walking by stopped at Peach's words. "Still with that lipstick? You look fine. You don't need any more make-up than you have on right now. You have a natural beauty you know."

Peach just stared at him. "Roy… did you just…did you just give me a compliment?"

Roy blushed, realizing what he did. "Well, I wouldn't exactly consider it a compliment. It's just a statement. I mean everyone has a natural beauty in them. For you, I haven't found one. But hey, that's life!" Roy walked away in a hurry.

Peach wiped away the large sweat drop on her face. "Never mind, he'll never change."

**Corner Pocket Bar**

"So, you followed after all." Garrett replied as he saw Samus walking up to him.

"Well, I guess I can trust you. So, what is it?"

Garrett pointed to a room down the hallway. "It's back there." Garrett continued to walk to the hallway and didn't look back to see if she was following him or not. The temptation was too good for her to not follow Garrett to the back room. As he reached the door he heard her footsteps behind him. He smiled at this. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door. He opened it and stood by the side of the door to let Samus through.

But Samus crossed her arms. "It's nice of you being a gentlemen and all, but I'm going to have to ask you to go in first."

"Hmm, as you wish." Garrett walked in and disappeared in the darkness of a room. "Come on in."

The light flickered on and the room was visible. It was just a regular bedroom but it had a small kitchen it. There were two sofa chairs in front of a plasma screen TV. Garrett had placed his drink down on the small table in the room. "You thirsty?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine." Samus fully walked in. Garrett pulled out a remote from a drawer and headed over to one of the sofa chairs. He took the one on the right. "Could you shut the door, please? This is a private room."

"Sure." Samus shut the door slowly. Garrett gestured her to sit down in the other sofa chair. Samus reluctantly sat down in the sofa chair to the left. She sat straight up and alert. "So what is it?"

"Nothing I just thought you would like to see this." He flicked the TV on. As it came on he changed to channel 8. On the channel was a man standing in front of a podium and behind him were Samus' fellow smashers all lined up in a row. Samus just stared at the TV.

"Is this what you wanted me to see?"

"Well, I thought maybe you would like to see it since you didn't go. Why didn't you go anyway?'

"Just… for certain reasons." Samus wanted to leave but her eyes could not leave the TV. She could see her former friends on the screen standing together. Most of the smashers looked bored with his speech and some look interested. She saw Veronica standing by the man's side. A thought popped in Samus's head. "Oh! That must be her dad. I've never seen him before."

Garrett lounged in his chair. "Yes, that is her father and... hmm."

Samus gave him her full attention. "What?"

Garrett shook his head. "It's nothing. Let's just watch."

**Nintendo Festival Ceremony Room**

Link's eyes were slowly drooping. He couldn't believe he got stuck listening to this old man's speech. As much as Link wanted to just drop to the ground and go to sleep, he kept his balance. He looked to his left and saw Zelda leaning against the wall. Link guessed she was trying her best to not fall asleep from his dull speech and decided to lean against the wall for comfort since they were all standing. Link began to grow envious of her chance to lean against that wall. He sighed and started to pay attention again.

Mr. Walden had changed the speech from his childhood to his family. "Yes… I live the fine life. I have a beautiful wife and two beautiful children, a son and a daughter that you all well know. My son is into mystery and detective work. I'm guessing he plans to be some kind of agent for any secret force. I never asked him before he went away to college."

"Now my youngest, Veronica is quite the trooper and genius in training. She's into practically anything. She likes sports, fashion, she loves to cook, and she's a head cheerleader. She's practically head of everything back at home. But her main passion is for science and gentics. Studying the human body and conducting experiments and..."

_Don't forget manipulation and murder. _Zelda sighed. _I wonder if he realizes she has violent mood swings frequently. Of course, he doesn't know. He thinks his daughter is perfect! Just like my dad, he never would expect her to do anything wrong._

"In conclusion, my fellow Nintendo Characters. I am truly proud of these fellow smashers for bringing this smasher project to full glory. I hope they will keep it up and make me proud! I thank you all!" Mr. Walden ended.

Zelda clapped for Mr. Walden as he finally walked off the stage. The audience was cheering loudly and whistling. Zelda chuckled. She could tell that they didn't like his speech but they were excited when he got off the stage.

Master Hand told them all they were free to spend the day in the carnival. They all left the ceremony room in a quick pace. While everyone was clearing out, Master Hand was materializing something on everyone's wrists. After M.H materialized the item on Mr. Game & Watch's wrist he came over to Zelda. Zelda held out her hand and Master Hand shot a yellow ray at Zelda's hand. She couldn't feel the ray's power but she could see another bracelet forming on her wrist. When he was done, Zelda held up the bracelet to her face.

"That's a wristband. It will identify that you're one of the smashers so no one else can impersonate you." Master Hand said, answering Zelda's confusion in her head. "Now, everyone. The rest of the day is yours. Be free to do whatever you want. There are rides, games, food, and everything! Enjoy!"

The smashers started to clear out fast. Peach skipped over to Zelda. "Come on. We're going to have some real fun now. You, me, and the guys."

"Other guys? Who are they?"

"Well, the boys of course. They're Link, Marth, Roy, Mario, Luigi, Fox and Falco. I can already tell the nine of us will have some serious fun! I can picture it! Let's go!"

"Okay, I'm up for it! Let's go." Zelda walked behind Peach. She smiled to herself. _She didn't even mention Veronica at all. So, it'll just be Link and me plus the other seven people but minus Veronica. Maybe I can have fun after all!_

**Outside the Corner Pocket**

"I can't believe how long that guys talks. It was so boring." Samus said as she and Garrett walked outside the bar. For some odd reason, Samus agreed to go take a walk with Garrett. She didn't know what made her say yes, but here she was walking with some older guy.

"Yeah, but get this. That was just a speech. When he has to put on a program all about him, try to avoid it. It will take two days." Garrett ran hand through his smooth black hair.

Samus watched him do this. He finished some time ago but she couldn't stop staring at him. It was something about him that made her think about past memories. Garrett noticed her staring at him and raised his eyebrow. "Something wrong, Samus?" Samus blushed fiercely. She didn't like to be caught when she was staring at someone. "Uh…no. You just… never mind you wouldn't want to know." Samus continued to walk off.

But Garrett stepped in front of her. "No, tell me."

"No, I couldn't… fine. Just don't get mad. You look like this girl I know."

"I look like a girl?"

"No. You don't look like one; you just have some facial features, like, well… Mr. Walden and Veronica."

"Mr. Walden and Veronica, huh?" Garrett closed his eyes and smirked. "You're pretty good, Samus. I thought I would have to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Samus asked.

"Didn't you wonder why I asked you to come up to my room and watch TV with me? Did my attitude remind you of anybody?"

Samus tapped her index finger against her head. "Yeah, you did. You reminded me of Veronica so much."

"And you were right just now. We do look alike. You see… I'm that son Mr. Walden was talking about on the TV. He's my dad!"

Samus's mouth hung open. She took a second look at Garrett. He had the same purple eyes and black hair and facial features. Yes, they were related. "I thought so," she said quietly. "The way you acted in your tough manner reminded me of Veronica. Except you don't seem like you would be a jerk like your sister is." Samus just realized what she said to Veronica's brother. "Oh my gosh, I'm so…

"No, it's okay. I know she has issues. Trust me, I lived with her for years. But I was hoping I would get to either talk to you or your friend Zelda while you were here on vacation."

"I see. What do you need to talk to me about?"

"It's about Veronica, I found a list that belonged to her in her room. They were evil plans she planned to do to a certain female smasher. And it was either between you, Peach, or Zelda. But that's what I need to talk to you about. Was it you she attacked?"

"Only once. The rest of the time it was Zelda."

"So, Zelda's her target. Is this over a guy?"

"Sure is." Samus replied.

"I feared this. Well what has she done so far?" Garrett asked.

Samus heaved a big sigh. "Walk with me, Garrett. Because that list goes on and on."

**The Fairgrounds Of the Nintendo Festival**

"Oh, I love roller coasters! Let's go ride it okay, Mario?" Peach squealed. The hours had rolled pass through there time at the fair. They went on a few rides and they liked them all so far. They played games and saw exhibits for Luigi and Fox's sakes but they were not as bad as they seemed.

Mario laughed. "You know I'm up for it!"

"Excuse me, but what's a roller coaster?" Marth asked.

"Oh that's right." Luigi remembered that Link, Marth, Zelda, and Roy were not of the same time as them. So, of course they wouldn't know what they are talking about. "It's like this, guys. It's like carts on wheels and you sit on them. The carts move real fast on a track with twists and turns and such. Uh… you'll understand better when we get on the ride."

"Well, looks like it will be a thrill! Onward to this Roller coaster!" Roy said while walking off.

"Actually, Roy, we're already here." Falco said as he pointed to the roller coaster.

"Oh." Roy said quietly.

"Come on, let's go!" Fox said. "And I'm getting a seat by myself."

"No, you aren't! I am! I'm not sitting with screaming wimps. No offense to you newbies." Falco spoke.

Link frowned. "I think you still meant it. Z, you want to sit together?"

"Mm-hmm. I feel safer with you. Everyone else might consider me babyish." Zelda followed her friends to the long line.

"I would never think that Zel. Besides I bet Falco is just covering up his fear. "

* * *

In the end, Marth was with Roy and Zelda and Link were in front of them paired up. Peach and Mario were in front of them, then the Starfox team in front of them, and Luigi was the head person in the front seat. The best spot.

The helper at the roller coaster made sure they were all strapped in. Zelda held on tightly to the harness she had over her body. Her knuckles were turning white.

Link on the other hand was looking at the ride. He was anxious to get this ride started. If he weren't strapped in, he would be bouncing in his seat about now. Zelda on the other hand, was as stiff as a statue. She had nerves building up in her stomach and choking her. She was scared out of her mind. But she didn't want Falco to know so she wouldn't be embarrassed**. **

"This ride is going to be fun! I can feel it!" Roy shouted to get a response from Link.

Link turned around in his seat. "Of course it is. Sam and Fox told me all about these and they say they're nothing but fun."

_Samus._ That name pricked a nerve in Zelda's body._ She didn't even come to this. I wonder what she is doing?_ She looked behind her slightly and saw Marth talking to Roy while they waited for the ride to start. He seemed as happy as can be._ He's probably not even thinking about her. I shouldn't either. This is my day to have fun! But it still pricks at my brain._

_This is great. Spending time together like the old times. But it's minus Samus now. It's bothering me to the fullest that she isn't here right now. Even so, I cannot ruin my day with that silly argument. It will blow over. Right? _Link nodded, answering his own question. He felt a jerk in his seat.

The train like vehicle started to move slowly. It moved forward leaving the line of excited people, wanting to get on next. The cars took a sharp turn and slowly reached a hill. In Zelda's opinion, a large hill. The cars went up the large hill of track very carefully and slowly. Zelda looked down and saw how high they were up. She could see everything but that didn't change the fact that she was still scared of heights. She grabbed onto Link's free hand. Link cupped his hand with hers immediately. He expected her to do that when he saw how high up they were. The cars came to a complete stop at the top.

"Don't get scared now, Falco!" Mario called to the ace-pilot.

"Fat chance, Mario!" Falco called back.

"Yeah, he's a flight expert. This will only faze him a little bit." Fox said to Mario.

Peach turned back. "How you holding up back there, Zellie?"

Zelda only nodded. "She's fine!" Link answered.

"This is the world's greatest thing ever!" Roy shouted to the world.

Zelda watched the cars start to go down. Luigi was already hooting in joy. The rest of the cars plunged with his. Peach screamed in laughter as they went down. When Zelda's car plunged down she screamed along with Peach. She didn't care what Falco thought… this ride was dropping fast. Link was grinning and laughing already having fun. Zelda grabbed on to him tighter and Link held on to her. "It's okay, Z!"

Zelda couldn't watch the scenery at all. Everything was zooming past her fast. There were flips, sharp turns, twists that went on for seconds and there were even more drops. The whole time she could hear everyone screaming and having a good time. Zelda was screaming along with them but she couldn't help but form a smile on her face as they continued the ride. Soon the ride was back into its regular position and was coming back slowly to it's station. But they stopped behind two other cars waiting for the riders to get out of their seats and exit. She sighed and grabbed her head. The ride gave her a headache.

Link started to burst out laughing. "Peach, look at your hair!"

Roy was laughing too. "You look like a fuzz ball!"

"What?" Peach touched her hair. "Oh no! It's frizzy again? This always happens to me." She started to giggle herself. "Zellie, it happened to you too."

Zelda touched her own hair. She could feel hairs out of place Link was staring at her. He tried to contain his laughter but could not. "She's right. You both look like fuzz balls."

Zelda stared at him for a moment. She frowned. "At least I'm not without my hat."

"My hat? Aah! It's gone! Wha… where…" Link panicked.

"Link."

Link turned around and saw Marth holding his matching blue hat. "I believe this is yours."

"You found it!"

"Yeah. When went down a drop it met me in the face."

When it was their turn to get out of the car, they jumped up quickly and went out the exit. All of them started to talk about the ride. Roy was continuing to make wise cracks about Peach's hair. Mario tried to defend Peach, but Roy was right about what she looked like, so he silently snickered. Luigi and Fox ganged up on Falco and told him he got scared and they were teasing him. Falco tried his best to defend himself. As they were walking away from the ride Luigi turned around and walked backwards staring at his friends. "So, how did you guys like it?"

Roy took a break from harassing Peach. "It was the most fun I had all day! We have got to do it again. And this time I'm in front with. Luigi."

"I have to say. That was a pretty fun ride and I wouldn't mind riding it again either." Marth added.

"Me too!" Link retrieved his hat from Marth.

"Not me! That ride gave me a headache." Zelda said. Her head was pounding.

"Well the first ride is always jumpy. But I'm with you. Besides I need to get the frizz out of my hair. Let's go to the bathroom for a sec."

"Okay. Wait for us here you guys." Zelda called as she eyed a bathroom.

"Wait for you guys to get ready? Heck no! We'll be on another ride and then we'll come back!" Falco answered.

"Fair enough. But don't forget us. Come on Peach!" Zelda and Peach rushed to the bathroom.

"See you guys later." Link said as he and the other six boys departed.

* * *

"Ooh! I had so much fun!" Zelda perked up quickly. Even though she had a slight headache she was very energetic. "I thought I was going to have a bad day today. But I didn't!"

"I'm glad. I thought you were going to be unhappy all day."

"I guess not. This festival had really brightened my mood and I feel nothing will ruin it either." She looked around outside the bathroom. "Everyone's back already."

"Okay." Peach put away her pink lipstick. "I'm ready."

The girls grabbed their purses and headed out side. The boys were sitting with annoyance evident on their faces. Roy was the first to notice their appearance on the scene. "What, no more frizz heads?"

Peach lightly smacked him on the head. "Hush, Roy!" She walked past him and went straight to Mario. "So, what's next?"

Before he could respond Zelda interrupted her question with another. "Where's Link?"

"He wanted me to tell you that he and Veronica were going to hang out for a while and he would come back later on in the day." Fox said. "He promised to hang out with her when she got away from her dad."

"Oh, that's it." Zelda said quietly. But she shrugged it off. _He'll be back later. He promised._ "Well let's not waste the day away."

"Now that's what I love to hear! What's up next Luigi?"

Luigi looked at the map. "How about a water ride?"

"Sure, sounds fun. Let's go." Zelda linked an arm with Peach and they skipped together on the walkway behind the boys.

* * *

"It's been a while now. Where is he?" Fox asked the group of friends. Everyone knew he was talking about Link. Link had not arrived yet. They were all sitting down drinking the drinks they ordered.

Zelda was tapping her fingers on the table. She hadn't said anything yet about Link's tardiness and tried not to worry about it. He was free to do whatever he wanted. But why did she still feel he needed to be here right now? Zelda got up from the table and looked straight ahead. Link was walking with Veronica.

Veronica had changed clothes. She was wearing some shorts and a green tank top. She was resting her head on Link's chest. They were heading in the direction of their table. She thought they were going to come over to them but something caught her eye. Veronica jerked Link's arm in the direction to the right and they walked right past them. Zelda gasped. _She did that on purpose so Link wouldn't see us. She's not getting away with it. She's not going to ruin our day!_

Zelda started to run over to them as they turned a corner. She heard her friends calling her name but she didn't respond to them. All she wanted to do was get Link to come back over to them and leave Veronica in the dust. She reached the corner and found a dead end, there were a few food stands up but a gate surrounded the rest of the area. There were people there and most of them were smashers. They were all looking in a store that was called Smash Store. Link and Veronica were standing by a jewelry stand. Veronica was looking at the jewelry. Her long hands reached out for a necklace hanging on a rack. She picked up. No one would be able to hear Veronica and Link's conversation normally, but when you have Hylian ears, you can pick up on a conversation easily.

"I like this one, Link. It has purple beads and that's my favorite color. What do you think?"

Link eyed the necklace and nodded. "Yes, I think that one will look good on you."

Veronica blushed. "Thank you Link. I'm glad you like this one." She looked at the clerk. "I'll take this one."

Link put an arm around Veronica's shoulder. "I'll buy it for you."

"You will? Oh Link, I just… oh!"

What happened next was very unexpected. Veronica leaped into Link's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I gotta do it!" Veronica placed her lips on Link's. Link jumped back a little but he did not back away from the kiss. Zelda just stared at the two. _This can't be happening. He'll back away. Any moment…in just a little. He will… I just know it. _He didn't budge from her lips as they deepened the kiss._ It's been at least 10 seconds he has to break away from her grasp. But he has his arms around her and… WHY IS THIS HAPPENING! Link, how could you? I thought you changed. First Samus and now Veronica. I think I'm gonna be sick, I need to get out of here._

Zelda backed up into a tall rack of hats. The hat rack crashed loudly to the ground. This broke Link and Veronica up instantly. Link looked up and saw Zelda. He was caught again and this time she saw the kiss. Nothing could cover him up this time. Veronica had noticed Zelda before the kiss and found this amusing. Now she knew for sure Zelda would be over Link.

"I'm so sorry about your hats." Zelda said as she picked one hat up.

"It's quite alright, young miss. I'll pick them up." The hat seller picked up the racks of hats.

Zelda made sure the seller was fine as she picked up the hats. Once realizing she was okay, she looked back over at Link and Veronica. All she could do was she walk over to them very slowly. She look disapprovingly at Link. "Well… what's your excuse this time, Link? I would love to hear it."

"Zel..."

"That's Princess Zelda to you!" Zelda snapped. She may have been overreacting. He wasn't her boyfriend after all.

Link felt like dropping dead. "Zelda, please..."

"No! There isn't a thing you can say!" Zelda shouted. "Nothing can cover this up. There's not a thing in this world that can convince me you changed. After doing the same thing with Samus I thought you would've stopped, but I guess you're not a man of your word!"

Veronica got in front of Zelda. "Listen, Princess. Link loves me. You're nothing to him but a friend. Don't you know that?"

"Hold on a second, Veronica! I never said that!" Link declared. He saw people surrounding them to see the heated argument. He could see every smasher in the crowd.

"You didn't have to say it. It was obvious. Zelda knows that you've kissed me before and gone out on dates with me."

Zelda bit her lip to hold back her tears. Everything Veronica said was true. Anger was slowly boiling through her body. She hated Veronica more than ever. And she didn't have a word to describe what she thought of Link at the moment.

"He only likes me, Zellie. Me and me alone." Veronica smirked at her.

_"Shut-up."_ Zelda muttered under her breath.

Veronica cupped her hand around her ear and leaned into Zelda's face. "Huh? What was that? I couldn't quite hear you!"

"I said SHUT-UP. JUST SHUT-UP!" Zelda roared in her face.

Veronica stepped back, offended. "Don't take this out on me. Just ask Link right now. Link, tell her who you like."

Link felt all eyes on him. Zelda was looking at him in a heat of rage. He had never seen the princess this angry. Veronica had a smirk on her face, confident that she knew the answer. "Zelda I do like you a lot. But lately… you've been blaming Veronica for everything that's been happening to you. She would never do such things. And I do…like her too but-"

"Thank you, Link. I'll take it from here. Princess, don't you see? Link likes me better than you. Face it!"

Zelda had her head down. She could hear Veronica's harsh words. "You can't win. Face the facts. It's over, Zellie. Over, over, over. Link hates you and he loves-"

Before Veronica's words could get out, Zelda's anger reached the breaking point. She automatically cracked and became enraged! "AAH! YOU EVIL SICK WITCH!" she screamed.

Zelda had no control over what happened next. She lunged at Veronica, knocking her down with her balled up fists. Veronica fell hard on her back in screamed in fright. She tried to fight Zelda off and Zelda tried to control herself ,but she was too angry. All she was thinking of doing was beating the heck out of Veronica. She started to punch her in the face and Veronica was clawing at Zelda's face. She scratched Zelda hard with her long fingernails. Zelda punched her on the nose, making Veronica instantly grab her nose. But Veronica let go of it quickly and grabbed Zelda's long blonde hair. She tugged Zelda off her by her locks of hair. Zelda in return, grabbed her hair and tugged back. Both girls were screaming and grunting.

Link was just staring in disbelief at the two girls. They were both fighting each other. And they were going to kill each other if he didn't stop them. The crowd didn't try to stop them. Some were encouraging them and some were still staring in shock. Link ran to both of the girls as they got up from the ground and both of them had a tight grip on each other's arms. Veronica was trying to fight back like Zelda. But Zelda was stronger than Veronica. Veronica managed to get Zelda off her and push her back. Zelda stumbled but kept her stance. Zelda looked liked she was going to charge at her again. Link ran to them. "Zelda, Veronica stop!"

Zelda didn't hear a word he said. Zelda ran at Veronica when she tried to catch her breath. She had no time to defend herself as Zelda ran to her, hands out ready to attack. But Link jumped between the two of them, but he really got in front of Veronica to defend her. "Zel, stop!" But it was too late. Zelda pushed both of them as hard as she could. They both stumbled back and crash right into the jewelry stand knocking the whole thing over and they rammed into the wooden stand breaking it in two. They fell on their backs in between the split wood.

"MISS HARKINIAN!"

Zelda snapped out of her rage. "Huh?" She looked beside her to see Master Hand and a very angry Mr. Walden. It had all came back to Zelda. She had snapped and went on a rampage. She looked at her prey. Link was up in a sitting position with Veronica right next to him. She was leaning on him holding her nose. Zelda could see blood on her face and realized her nose was bleeding. Zelda looked at her white gloves. They were now gloves with red splotches of blood on them. Veronica's blood from her nosebleed. Zelda felt something trickling down her ear. She held her finger against her ear and then brought it down again to look at it. Her face had cuts all over it and one of the cuts were bleeding down her cheek. She looked at Link, checking on Veronica.

"My nose. It's bleeding!" she cried.

Link looked up at Zelda. He had an angry look that Zelda had never seen and it was directed to her. He said something that was only audible to her ears. "Zelda, she didn't do anything to you." Zelda stared at him in fear. She was scared of his look. She looked at her hands in horror at all the blood dried up on her hands. She was guilty of an unforgivable crime.

Master Hand looked at Link. "Take her to the doctor now, Link." Link nodded and tried to help Veronica up. Master Hand turned his attention back to Zelda. If he had a face, Zelda knew he would have an angry look on his face right now.

"Master Hand, I want you all to return home now! Back to the resort! And make sure… that girl is brought to your office so we can talk later!" Mr. Walden walked off with Link and Veronica.

Zelda watched Link walk away with Veronica. He was holding her in his strong arms. How she longed to be held like that right now. But everyone was just staring at her. She could hear the whispers about her and comments.

"Clear back! There's nothing else to see! Leave!" A voice said. Zelda felt hands on her shoulders and looked up to see Peach was now at her side. "Zelda, are you okay?"

She felt her tears finally flow down her cheeks. She collapsed to the ground on her knees. She kept her head down and let her tears hit the ground. She started to cry openly, not caring who was listening._ What have I done?  
_

**In Town**

Garrett was looking appalled. "She really set fire to the elevator?"

"Yes. Evil isn't she?" Samus said.

Samus and Garrett had been talking about Veronica for a couple hours now. Samus and Garrett found out they had a lot in common. Samus loved to train a lot and so did Garrett. Garrett didn't let anyone step all over him and neither did the bounty hunter. Samus never had this much fun with a complete stranger. He was like a lifelong friend. He was easy to talk to unlike her other friends. As they reached the corner pocket he saw a crowd of people talking outside.

Samus cocked her head to the side. "What's going on?"

Garrett got in front of her. "Stay here."

Garrett ran ahead to the crowd. Samus smiled._ Garrett is very nice. He's very protective like… Marth. Forget him Samus, he doesn't matter to you anymore. He hurt me after all and then lied about it. But I…"  
_

"Sam! You've got to here this!"

Samus looked up at Garret walking back to her. "What's up?"

"Your friend, Zelda. It's not looking good."

"Zelda?" Samus' heart skipped a beat at that name. "What happened?'

"She went ballistic! She attacked Veronica and really did a toll on her. She's all over the news!"

"Wait, she fought her?" Samus asked. Garrett nodded. Samus didn't know whether to be ashamed or appalled. She went with appalled. Zelda wasn't one to settle things with fists. That was more Samus' style. She knew Zelda had made a bad move. But she couldn't help but wonder what could have happened. But she knew one thing. She most likely needed to return back to the resort.

"I have to go back to the resort. They probably want me to be there."

"Oh okay. Need a ride?"

"Thanks. I need it! Let's hurry." Samus followed Garrett into the bar. _Zelda, what were you thinking?_

**Master Hand's Office**

Master Hand's office was an eerie quiet. Only Zelda, M.H, and Mr. Walden were in the room. Zelda was sitting in her chair with her head down. She was so ashamed of herself that she couldn't even look up. She had gone from princess to barbarian in seconds. Master Hand and Mr. Walden were standing in front of her but Walden was doing the talking.

"I have to say that was not a good move, Zelda. You attacked my daughter in front of thousands of people." Mr. Walden had a smug look on his face. He was glad she wasn't looking up at him because couldn't stand to look at her face. He was furious. "You embarrassed me and the smashers! Do you realize what you did to this company? DO YOU!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Walden…"

"SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH! NOTHING CAN CHANGE WHAT YOU DID TO MY INNOCENT DAUGHTER! SHE NEVER DOES ANYTHING TO ANYBODY AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO ATTACK!"

Zelda's head shot up. "Do you even know what your daughter is like?"

Mr. Walden frowned. "Apparently you think of her as an evil witch!"

"And I wouldn't change that statement for the world!" Zelda snapped.

Master Hand spoke. "Zelda, you're speaking out of line!"

"No, Master Hand I don't care! He needs to know! Mr. Walden, your daughter has been attacking me ever since you sent her to the SSBM mansion."

Mr. Walden's eyes grew bug sized. "Excuse me! What did you just say!"

"Your daughter has done so much to me. She's threatened me, she ruined my green dress, she embarrassed me in front of my peers, she tried to kill my best friend, she tried to kill me by setting that elevator on fire!" Everything just flowed out of Zelda's mouth. She wanted him to know.

"That's ludicrous!" Walden responded.

"You would say that. And I expected you to. But I have proof of this. She had this diary. It has everything in it. Her plans she used to hurt me and another evil thing she did in her life years ago."

"A diary, huh? Please." Mr. Walden retorted.

"It's true. I'll show you." Zelda shot out of her seat and ran out the door. She ran to Peach's room in a rush. She banged on the door. Peach answered it. "Zel?"

"Peach, give me Veronica's diary!"

Peach bit her lip. "Um, Zel?" She shot her eyes towards the back of the room where Veronica was sitting. She was glaring at Zelda. She had heard everything she had just said.

"I don't care. It's over Veronica! Peach hid the sheets with your threats on them so you wouldn't be able to change anything." Zelda had told her to do that when they returned from Serine Isle. Master Hand and Mr. Walden were standing at the door.

"Well?" Mr. Walden said. "Where are they?"

"Just wait and see. Peach, please get them." Zelda demanded.

Peach ran to her dresser looking for the papers. She pulled out two purple sheets of paper. Zelda took them from her and handed them to Mr. Walden. "Here."

Mr. Walden took the paper. He scanned it very slowly. Zelda thought he was finally going to believe her, but he looked up from the paper with the same angry look. "These are Veronica's entries from her trip and what happened at camp."

"What?" Zelda took the paper from him. The words were familiar to her. It was about the camping trip. She stammered. "But I know it's there. The diary is wrapped on the front leg of the bed!"

Zelda ran to the bed leg, fumbling for the diary. It wasn't there. "But it was right here."

Master Hand sighed. "I am so sorry for all this. Apparently she was just not sure."

"Oh, you better believe I'm sure!" Zelda said angrily. She pointed an accusing finger at Veronica. "She's a crazy maniac!"

Veronica looked at her dad and burst into tears. "Daddy, please stop her. I'm not crazy. Not anymore, not anymore. I'm a good girl! I'm a good girl!" Veronica grabbed her head and shook violently. "I am, Daddy. Please I don't want to go back. Please don't leave me with them again! Please… I've changed!"

Mr. Walden went to his daughter's side. "It's okay hon. We won't send you back. Not ever again. Zelda is going to apologize right now!"

"No, I'm not!"

Peach looked at her friend. "Zelda… please. Just let it go."

"No! I won't. She's an evil little demon spawn!"

Veronica cried even louder. Master Hand escorted Zelda out of the room. They walked back to the office. After a while Mr. Walden showed up. "Well, she's calm now. Now as for you, Miss Harkinian. I'm going to need you to apologize to my daughter. You accused such an innocent girl of a crime you can't prove!"

"But she-"

"I don't want to hear it. Just wait outside. We need to discuss this matter."

Master Hand and Mr. Walden went into the office and shut the door leaving Zelda alone.

* * *

"They've been in there for a while. What could they possibly be talking about?" Peach said. The two princesses were sitting on the carpet outside of Master Hand's office with their hands crossed in their laps.

"I don't know. But it can't be good. Peach, I just can't win." Zelda said in a quiet voice.

"Win what?"

"This battle. They all can't imagine Veronica being bad. Why not? Doesn't he remember what she did to her best friend and crush? Isn't that enough?"

"You should just apologize, Zelda. He will probably give you a lighter sentence."

"No way. I'm not going to!" Zelda said stubbornly. She knew Samus would never tell her to do something like that. She was starting to wish she was here.

"Zelda, do you want to get off this easily or not?"

Zelda sighed. She didn't want anything bad to happen. "Okay, fine."

The door opened. Zelda watched Master Hand come floating out of the office. Master Hand stood in front of her quietly. "Well, I can't say that I wasn't embarrassed by your actions, Zelda. I would have never expected that from you."

Zelda decided to take Peach's advice. "I understand, M.H. I promise I won't do it again. The next time that happens, I'll just walk away."

"Yes. But unfortunately there won't be a second time for you, Zelda."

"What do you mean?" Zelda said slowly.

Master Hand sighed again. "I'm sorry but Mr. Walden and I decided that we're going to have to expel you from Super Smash Brothers Melee."

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you go readers. Congrats to those who finished reading this chapter. Did you like it? Probably not. But please review you guys! I'll appreciate it and if you guys don't mind. Can you tell me what the type of story GENERAL means? Thanks in advance and review please. **


	16. Guiltiness Runs Over

**Okay, last chapter was kinda rough, I know. But that's okay. These things happen after all. So, anyway thanks for your nice long reviews. From the way they sound it seems that you hate Link more than Veronica. Figures at this moment. Here's the next chapter! **

**Chapter 16**

**Guiltiness Runs Over**

Master Hand looked over his papers in his desk. He was using his powers to file through every smasher. The screen dropped on the last smasher's name… Princess Zelda. He just stared at the name. This was too hard for him. He didn't like the fact that he was going to lose one of his fighters, one of his partners in SSBM, a family member. Everyone was like part of Master Hand's family. Or something like that. Master Hand did realize what she did was wrong but the idea of sending her away and banning her was a little overkill. He checked all her records. There was nothing in her file but pure goodness. She was always prompt, completed all her matches, got her training in, and no one once had a problem with Zelda. She was a good kid. At least that was what Master Hand thought at first until now. _Well like they say, it's always the quiet and innocent ones. _There was a silent knock on the door. Master Hand looked at the door. "Come in."

The door opened and Peach walked in. She shut the door slowly behind her. Peach smiled. "Hello. And hello Mr. Walden."

Master Hand suddenly remembered Mr. Walden was still in the room with him waiting for him to ease all of Zelda's things. Master Hand looked away from the computer and turned his attention on her. "Is there anything I can do for you Peach?"

"Not for me, but for Zelda. You see…"

Mr. Walden heavily sighed. "Miss Toadstool there is nothing you can do to convince this expulsion to end. What she did was unforgivable. "

"Yes, I realize that. But that's not what I'm asking. It's just that tomorrow is Zelda's birthday and we have been planning this party for a long time. It's like a big moment in every girl's life when they turn sixteen and I really want her to be here for the surprise party we're giving her. We have been working on it since we got here." Peach said quietly. She turned to Master Hand. "So, I'm asking can she at least stay to enjoy her party?"

"After what happened I'll have to say no."

Peach didn't hold her tongue. "Sorry, but I wasn't asking you. It's not your say in the matter."

"Excuse me?" Mr. Walden said.

Peach didn't respond to his warning voice. She turned to Master Hand. "Master Hand, you know we have been working on this for a long time now and you allowed us to do it and you cannot go back on your word."

Master Hand well remembered his promise to Peach and just about everyone else. But was he still going to keep his word? "Peach… listen now."

"Wait a second. Are you going to go back on your word? You promised."

"I know but what Zelda did is very serious. She could repeat the same attack again and we cannot risk that."

"You know Zelda better than that. She never does anything without a reason and I think she will be fine now. Just let her stay for one more day. Please?" Peach pleaded.

As much as MH did not want to agree, she was right. He may not have known the real reason Zelda bugged out like that, but it was for a good reason possibly. And he still didn't want to let her go just yet either. But Mr. Walden still did not agree with this decision. He was hurt and angry about what she did to his daughter. And MH would be mad too if that was his daughter. But this was Zelda's birthday tomorrow. Maybe it could be like a going away party.

"Fine, Peach. She can stay. But for one day, do not ask to add on anymore. Got it?"

Peach nodded. "Thank-you."

Mr. Walden just watched Peach leave with his mouth hanging open. As soon as she was out the door, he turned to Master Hand. "You do realize what you just did do you?"

"I did promise them, and besides she may need a day to say good-bye to her friends."

"Fine. But I want her out of here immediately after this little party." Mr. Walden got out of his seat and went out the door.

Master Hand sighed. "Yeah… sure."

**Outside the Resort**

"Here we are in under five minutes."

Samus peered from behind Garrett's back. The resort was right in front of her. She had to walk back in there and face the people who betrayed her. She knew it would have to happen eventually, but she didn't know it would be so soon. Samus removed her arms from his muscular body. She had enjoyed the ride and the small talk on the way. Garrett was quite the gentleman.

She got off the motorcycle and removed the bike helmet. She handed it to Garrett. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Garrett's amethyst eyes looked at Samus for a second. But a second was too long for Samus. "What is it?"

Garrett shook his head. "It's nothing. Just thinking about this whole evil sister thing. I'm hoping you can help your friend at all costs."

Samus didn't respond. Those words stabbed at her heart. Help her friend Zelda? She just looked down at the ground. Garrett could tell something was wrong with what he said. "I know you two are mad at each other right now, but she needs you more than ever.

Samus closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry I just don't think I can help her at all.

"Yes, you can. You have to." Garrett got off his bike and walked up to Samus. "Veronica could do something horrible to her, but you can stop her."

"Garrett, you could have asked anyone else except me. Why did you choose me to do this? I can't…"

Garrett sighed and held her hands in his. "I know you can, Samus. There's no one else I can trust in that building except you to do this."

Samus felt the warmth of his hands. They were very firm but in a soft squeeze. But she still could not get involved with this anymore. Though… it was getting really serious now with the whole Veronica thing. Then the words would keep coming back to her. Why help a friend who treats you like a piece of trash?

Samus dropped her hands from his. She sighed and turned to walk away. "I'll see what I can do," she muttered.

Garrett sat down on his bike. "You know, Samus. From what you told me, the whole fight is ridiculous. You and Zelda are good friends and this little thing shouldn't be holding you back from being friends. There are much worse people out there who are worthy of being angry at each other. And as for you and Marth… you two should make-up because it seems you both made a mistake even though his was more severe. Anyway, I really am hoping you make up with your friends because it's sad to see a beautiful, young woman looking miserable."

Samus started to blush, but he didn't see it since she was facing the other way. When she was back to normal color she turned back around. "Garrett I…" Right in front of Samus's face was a long-stemmed, beautiful white rose. Garrett was holding it tightly in his hand. "Here. They say white roses are signs of courage. You should take it so, you know… you can have some courage to talk to them or something. Besides the beauty of the flower goes well with yours."

Samus took the rose and stared at its beauty. She smelled it. "It's beautiful. Thank you Garrett but I still can't…"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Hold out your hand."

"Um… okay." Samus held out her hand.

Garrett got something out of his pocket and placed it in her hand. When Samus looked at it she was slightly confused. It was a tiny device that Samus was quite familiar with. "What… why are you giving me this?"

"You know why. I don't have to explain. Be careful with it." Garrett got onto his bike and revved up the engine. "Maybe if Veronica is stopped, we'll see each other again."

"Maybe…" She said quietly. He waved to her and then took off down the street. She didn't get to tell him thank you. When he was out of sight, Samus looked at the rose again. It was freshly plucked. Samus had no idea he had the flower. She was amazed by it's beauty._ Garrett… how different you are from other guys. You're more of a gentleman then anyone I met._ Something slid down her wrist towards her elbow. She looked at her arm and saw it was her gold bracelet that Marth gave her. She had put it on earlier. While she was with Garrett she had forgotten she even had a boyfriend. But she didn't, right? Or maybe she did. She wasn't so sure anymore but… she hadn't thought about him since Garrett showed up. A thought struck her._ Am I starting to like Garrett? That can't be true._

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the resort opened. A Nintendo character unknown to Samus came out of the resort. She then remembered she still had to go into the building. She sighed. This was going to be tough.

**Roy and Marth's Room**

Roy looked around the room. On the left side of the room Marth was staring out the window. He had not looked at Roy or anyone else in the room for some time now. The other person in the room? That would be Link. Link was on the far right side of the room. He was leaning against the wall facing Roy but staring at the ground. Roy felt a small smile form on his face. He was glad that he succeeded in getting Link to come to the room and that Marth had not decided to leave yet. It was time that these three friends met again to do some serious talking.

Roy crossed his arms and took a deep breath. He opened his mouth.

"Roy. We know why you brought us here together." Link said in a silent tone.

"And there is nothing you can say or do to make us talk about what has happened to our lives." Marth added.

"I know that. But I really don't care either. You two are not going to talk about what happened. But you are going to listen to what I have to say. First off, Marth, allow me to say that you are acting childish. Samus made a little mistake and apparently Link did too.

"Hey! For the last time, she was the one who came on to me and kissed me. I had nothing to do with it."

Marth turned and narrowed his eyes at Link. "If you don't mind, I would like it if you did not bring that up again. I'm trying to get over it and get on my life."

"Without Samus?" Roy asked.

"Possibly."

"Do you plan to break up with her. Man, I hope not. Samus is very attractive…"Roy watched Marth raise an eyebrow. "Hey I'm not going to lie. Your girlfriend is hot, but she's too hardcore for me. If you two don't make up someone can just snatch her up just like that."

Link gaped at Roy in disbelief. "Roy, why would you say something like that? That will never…"

"Listen, Link. You and I are different in giving advice. You try to be as nice as you can, but I tell the straight out truth that you always try to hide. Link, you know it's true, don't you?" Roy challenged him.

Marth looked up in interest. "Is that true?"

"Well… sometimes I do, but sometimes I don't. But what does that have to do with anything? We were on a different subject."

"You were the one who asked me why I was being realistic. But without getting into that, let's get back on topic." Roy looked at Marth seriously. "To tell you the truth, Marth, I'm quite envious of you. You know how long I've wanted a relationship with someone I really like and I can't seem to make it happen?"

"Someone? Who would that…"

"That's not of importance. What I'm trying to say is… you have a great thing going on with you and Samus, and if I were in your place, I think it would be a shame to lose her." Roy said quietly.

"Hmm…" Marth thought about what Roy had just said.

While Marth was pondering his words, Roy turned to Link. "Your turn, Elf boy. What were you thinking!"

"What?" Link had no idea what Roy was talking about.

"You know what. Why did you go and help Veronica? She caused the whole fight!"

"No, she didn't. Zelda was the one who threw the first punch. You saw it."

"Yes, I did. You're right, Zelda may have hit her first, but Veronica taunted her into doing it. In fact, Veronica taunts her into doing a lot of things. Don't you realize it?"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't believe it. She's just so…"

"She manipulates you and hypnotizes you with her cat smiles and stuff. What about Zelda, Link?"

"What about her?" Link said.

Marth joined in the conversation. "What about what Zelda says? You've known her longer than you've known Veronica. You and her are childhood friends and everything. And I'm sure you trusted her with secrets and she always trusted you with the truth. But since Veronica showed up, you haven't been listening to a word Zelda has said."

"That's not true. I do all the time…"

"Can you really tell a bold face lie right here in our faces, Link?" Roy said while crossing his arms.

"Listen, Roy. I know what I'm talking about. Just don't worry about it, okay? If it will make you any happier, I will talk to Zelda after tomorrow."

"You better make it sooner than that. You heard what happened, didn't you?" Roy's blue eyes were full of frustration.

Link shook his head. "No."

"Zelda got banned from SSBM." Roy replied.

Link froze in place. His eyes were as large as the moon. "No…she didn't."

Roy lowered his head. "I'm serious, she did. That Walden character and MH made the decision after Zelda told them the truth about Veronica. They didn't believe her because that Veronica is a good cover up and she wrapped them up tightly with her lies. Zelda told them everything Veronica did. She has done many things to Zel and you don't even realize it, Link."

Link sat down on Roy's bed. "Zelda would always say that, but she would never tell me what things."

Marth rested his hand on his sheath. "That's because she was afraid of losing her friendship with you. But now it's too late for that. She told Samus everything that has been going on with her. She told her that Veronica threatened her to stay away from you, she said Veronica was the one who ruined her dress, she spilled the food on Zelda on purpose, she's the one who caused Samus to slip on the floor when she spilled the water bucket all over the stairs, and she caused the fire in the elevator. She was trying to kill Zelda."

Link put his head down.

"I know it's hard, Link… but it's true. Veronica has been lying to you about everything. She's not who you think she is." Roy couldn't think of any other way to break all this news to him. "But you need to talk to Zelda. Tomorrow is her last day here and then she's going back to Hyrule."

"You may never see her again." Marth didn't know why he said that. He knew they could still visit each other but he knew Link probably wouldn't think it would be the same.

Link raised his head "I can say the same for you Marth. Before you got here Samus said she was going to leave because she was tired of being here without a really good purpose. I guess she abandoned that idea when you two met. But now that you two are apart… she may do it." Link could see Marth already receiving the impact of the words in his facial expressions. "Samus told me not to mention it but I thought maybe you should know."

Roy looked at his two friends. Marth and Link were in bad shape. One about to lose a girlfriend for a dumb reason and the other made a dumb mistake and was about to lose their good friend forever. They had the same exact problem.

Link got up from the bed and headed to the door. "I better go."

Roy followed him to the door. "Where are you going?"

"Just going for a walk. You know, clear my head and stuff. And I'm going alone." Link opened the door, went out, and shut the door quietly behind him.

"You think he realizes the truth now?" Marth said after a long silent moment.

Roy stared at the door. "I highly doubt it." It was strange how this talk worked. They were supposed to handle their own problems, but they each ended up helping each other. Marth helped and Link and Link did vice versa._ Now if only they can settle their own problems._

**Zelda and Samus' Room**

"Zelda… it's me, Peach."

Zelda dropped what she was doing and walked over to her bedroom door. When she opened the door, she saw a small smile on Peach's face. "Well, I got to talk to Master Hand. He said it was okay if you stayed just one more day. Sorry, that's the best I could do for you."

"You didn't have to do it. I just want to go home now." Zelda moved out of the way and let Peach in. Peach saw Zelda's bag on her bed already being packed up.

"You're already packing? Don't worry about packing. You can do that any day. Well… tomorrow only… but with your birthday tomorrow and everything you should be having some real fun. Let's go out on the town. I'm not even going to suggest shopping, it's totally your choice."

"Thanks, Peach. But I think I'm just going to stay inside today and for my birthday. No one would want to celebrate it with me anyway. Everyone probably hates me for what I did to Veronica."

"That's not true. No one hates you. You just flipped out and it's okay. They won't abandon you because of it."

Zelda went back over to her bed and continued to put her clothes in it. "I know. You know, Peach. I thank you for what you've been doing for me in my short time here. I really appreciate it. I learned so much, thanks to you."

Peach's lip trembled. This was really killing her. She didn't think she would ever have to lose a friend. "Don't say that, Zellie. You're going to stay. I'll find a way somehow. I promise you." Her face started to warm up as she tried to hold back her tears.

Zelda saw this and lightly smiled. "Peach, it's okay. You'll be fine. You'll be here for a long time with your friends and you won't even remember me."

"N-No that will never happen. You're my best friend." A single tear fell down her face.

Zelda wanted to cry too, but she had already cried enough after hearing that she would have to leave. She just dropped her smile. "Oh Peach. I just can't believe this happened. Link still went to Veronica after what she said to me. Is he really in love with her?"

Peach sniffed her tears back. "He isn't. He's just confused. That's why you have to talk to Link again and stop Veronica before you get sent away. You have to tell…"

Zelda shook her head. "No… I'm done, Peach." She saw Peach looking at her in shock, but she didn't respond to her look. "I'm done fighting over him. Why should I? I've tried for so long now and I'm still at square one with him. It's like waves at a beach. I'm with him, I'm against him, I hate him, I love him. Like waves, our relationship with each other changes. And I'm tired of it. If Veronica wants him, she can have him. They can get together, get married, and have a bunch of kids for all I care."

"But Zelda…"

There was clicking noise at the door. Both princesses looked up as the door opened. Samus walked into the room. They looked at her and Samus looked at them. Samus shut the door with her foot as she shifted her eyes away from them. She walked silently over to her bed. Zelda looked at her for a second, but then shifted her eyes back to her bag and continued packing. Silence filled the room. Peach watched Zelda continue to pack and Samus was putting a white rose into a vase that was on her nightstand.

Peach decided to break the silence. "Samus, you heard about what happened, right?"

Samus didn't look at Peach, but answered her question. "Yeah, I heard. Saw what happened too."

Zelda remained quiet so she could hear what Samus thought about it, but she didn't say another word. Zelda looked through the corner of her eye to see Samus starting to put things into her nightstand drawer.

"Well, that must mean you saw the fight between Veronica and Zelda?" Peach asked.

"Sure did. Wasn't too pretty." She said without a little hint of sympathy in her voice.

"Well, Zelda got expelled for it. She has to leave tomorrow."

Samus eyed Zelda for a minute. She was packing all her stuff away. Samus would have felt bad, but she kept her bad attitude. All those memories of what happened earlier that morning came back, haunting her mind. She just could not make up with her. "Well, that's pretty predictable when you do a stupid thing like that. The question there to ask is why would she do an idiotic thing like that, knowing she would get expelled for it."

Zelda finally met eyes with Samus. "She made Link fall under her will."

Samus crossed her arms. "Mm-hmm, I see."

"All the evidence… the diary, the items, everything… she got rid of it all," Peach said hoping something would strike Samus's dark heart. "Her father and M.H still believe Veronica is a good person and thought of Zelda as crazy for accusing Veronica."

Zelda looked at Samus._ Why is she being like this? I know she's still mad, __but after what happened._

Samus narrowed her eyes at Zelda. "I know that look, Zelda, and just so you know, I really am not fazed by what you just told me."

Peach dropped her nice act and looked at Samus in disbelief. "Samus, didn't you hear anything we just said?"

"I heard every word and my opinion doesn't change. If you guys are really expecting me to care after what happened earlier, let me tell you ahead of time I'm not going to."

Zelda gave up talking and went back to packing. But Peach still tried to reach Samus. "Samus, we can't let this happen. We have to stop Veronica."

"Look, I'm not helping her after what she did. She calls herself a friend. Please… I've met villains who would be better friends than her. I've known her for a long time and she goes and lashes out on me…and then you expect me to forget about what happened?"

"Still we need to…"

"Don't make this a "we" project. You want Veronica stopped. You do this with Zelda and anyone else who wants to help you, but not me. Zelda brought this on herself when she chose to attack her. She did it all. So, if she got herself into it, she can get herself out! I'm not helping at all!" The flare in Samus' eyes died and she moved back to the door. She couldn't do it. She was still angry.

Peach had to pull herself together. "So, you don't care if Zelda leaves? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Samus looked at Peach one last time and then at Zelda as she was out the door. "It would seem that way." Having nothing else to say, she went out the door quietly.

As the door closed, Zelda stopped packing and put her head down. Her body shuddered for a moment before she let out an aggravated cry and collapsed onto her bed. Tears poured from her eyes.

"Zelda?" Peach rushed to her side.

"Oh, Peach…Samus is right. There's no way around it. It is my fault. All of it. Everything. I did it all. I ruined everything. I'm the reason why my time here is over." She kept sobbing uncontrollably.

Peach rubbed her back. "That's not true."

"Stop trying to be nice. I can take it. I know I'm a loser and it's my fault. Samus is right and I was wrong to attack her. I should have known!"

"Samus doesn't know what she is talking about. I can see why you're mad at her."

Zelda slowly rose up from her bed. Tears were still falling down her cheeks and her eyes were red rimmed. "I could never be mad at Samus. She's my best friend and we've been through so much together. All day, she kept coming back in my mind. I tried to be mad, but I couldn't. Even if she did kiss Link, she's just too nice of a friend to throw away. If there was anything in the world I could wish for it would be that none of this ever happened. I just want to have my friends back and if that means being without Link… then so be it. I just want to have all my friends back."

Peach felt like Zelda's unhappiness was her fault. "Zelda, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's all me. Veronica belongs with Link and I do not. It was destined to be this way for a long time. And now that the time is here," she collapsed back on to her pillow. "I have to let this happen! It's all over!" she continued to cry into her pillow. "I just want to go back to Hyrule and forget about this place!"

**Hallway of 7th floor**

"That little brat!" Veronica growled. She continued to look in the mirror. Her nose was bruised and her face was all scratched up. "Ugh! My beautiful face! Doesn't she know that beauty isn't bought at a store!"

Veronica had gone to the store and bought hundreds of creams for her face to get rid of all the scratches and bruises. But all the creams would have to take a while to go into effect. She was angry with Zelda about her face. But then again, she wasn't completely mad. The reason why? Link came to her instead of Zelda after the fight, making Zelda bawl like a baby. Plus, she was expelled and would never return. She was glad that she was able to hide all her dairy entries from Zelda and get her into more trouble. It was all too perfect.

_And now Link is all mine and no one else's. Ooh… speaking of Link, there's Mr. Handsome himself._ Veronica smiled as she saw her love come walking her way. He had not seen her yet.

"Hi Link!" Veronica said with a large grin.

Link looked up and saw Veronica waving at him. He returned her wave with a light smile. "Hey, Veronica. You look better."

"Oh, I'm much better now. But, are you okay? You look down." Veronica said as she caught up to him.

"I'm fine. Just taking a small walk. I need to clear my head since I just found out that Zelda's been expelled."

"Oh." Veronica said quickly._ He still cares for her. How could he!_ "But it's good she's leaving. Now she can't attack anyone anymore, right?"

Link remembered what Marth and Roy had told him earlier. He couldn't trust anyone anymore. "Veronica, I need to finish my walk."

Veronica latched onto his arm. "Here, I'll go with you."

"No, I'll go by myself. I'm sorry, but with the things I heard about Zelda, compared to the things I heard about you, I really can't trust you or her yet. So, if you don't mind." Link pulled his arm away from Veronica. "I'll be finishing this walk alone. Talk to you later."

Link walked right past her with no regret. Veronica just stood there in shock. As he left, her fists started to shake. She growled in anger. "Ooh!"_ That girl. She's still winning and she's taking Link away from me even if she's getting expelled! That girl is seriously going to pay!_

**Sorry it's short and nothing happened in this chapter. I think this is one of the worst chapters I ever did, What do you think? The next one will not let you down. But hey, I got this activity for guys to do while I'm gone. They're puzzles to keep you occupied while I'm gone. Try to figure these out. ****Well I'm working on Chapter 17 right now and I won't let you down. Bye!**


	17. Game Over

**Okay. Apologizing for the ten thousand new chapter alerts you guys received. I messed up several times and I had to keep deleting and restoring it. Delete, Restore, Delete, Restore, Delete… well, you get the picture. Now that it is winter break. I may finish this story before the New Year because if I don't I can say I've been working on this story for one whole year and that's pitiful. And I figured out how the forum works. I didn't know how it worked. Look for mine please!**

**Chapter 17**

**Game Over**

Samus tossed and turned in her bed. Why couldn't she sleep? She had been in her bed for about two hours with her eyes wide open. She would shut them… but then they would reopen. She tried several times to fall asleep, but her eyes kept fighting her to stay awake and her eyes won the battle. She gave up trying to sleep. Even though her eyes were open she needed to know why. It could have been because of Zelda, on account of she was still sobbing on her bed ever since she got back in the room. She stopped once and Samus thought she was done but then she started leaking tears again. _Zelda is keeping me awake with her crying. I need my sleep but she just won't stop. She's miserable. But it's not like it's my fault she's in the bed crying her tears out till she's as dry as a drought. She brought it on herself and she has to accept the consequences of making a mistake like that._

Samus pushed herself towards the end of her bed. She pulled her upper body off the bed and took a peek at the Hylian Princess. Zelda was in her pink nightgown with her head on her pillow. She was curled up in a little ball and she covered her face in her crossed arms. Samus shrunk into her bed._ Then why do I feel so guilty? It wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything to her. Besides yell in her face… but she did it too. Why do I care?_ Zelda had stopped crying for a minute and was sniffling. Samus knew she was preparing herself for another round of sobbing. Samus looked around the room. All of Zelda's things were packed up and sitting by the door. Samus rolled fully back onto her bed and landed right back on her silk, orange pillow. She placed her arms under her head. _What is this feeling? It's seems like it's guiltiness but it isn't. It's some other feeling. It's a feeling of caring… but her problems are not my problems and I have no sympathy. Wait! That's exactly what it is. Concern. But why?_

Samus sat up in bed and looked at Zelda again as she started crying again._ She isn't my friend anymore, right? Why should I care at all? She can fight her own battles. Why worry at all about her and why am I worried in the first place? _Samus shook her head. _Don't be stupid, Samus. You know the answer. She's your best friend no matter what and she would feel the same way if I were in her shoes. I'm starting to understand what Garrett meant. This argument isn't worth having. It's over nonsense. Right now. My friend needs me more than ever and as her best friend, I won't let her down. _Samus took a large gulp. _But what am I going to say? I pretty much told her off earlier. Will she even listen? I'll have to try._

Zelda couldn't stop crying no matter how much she tried. Her heart had broken and snapped in so many different ways and she would cry about one thing and then she would cry about the next thing. It would never stop. Zelda felt her bed lower for a moment but then bounce right back up. She peeked one eye out from her pillow. Her eyes met with a pair of green, sincere eyes. She knew those eyes. Zelda pushed her head off the pillow and looked up at Samus.

Samus had her eyes lowered. "Hey."

Zelda continued to stare at her. Samus was actually talking to her. "Hey. What is it?" She rubbed the remaining tears out of her eyes.

"Listen. I'm sorry about the way I'm acting. I really am. I haven't been real considerate towards your expulsion or your Veronica problem."

"You don't have to be. You're not the one who has to leave because of my stupid actions. I want to apologize too. I don't know why I accused you of kissing Link like that. I never meant to be so mean about it."

"Well, it was a little out of your character. But I can see why you were feeling that way." Samus pushed her legs onto Zelda's bed and crossed them. "Link is someone you really love after all. I would be protective if it were… well, you know."

Zelda nodded. But then her tears started to fall again. "Samus, she won everything. She has Link and she was able to kick me out of here. I lost." Zelda started to sob again. She moved from going to her pillow to crying in Samus's lap. She didn't know if Samus would knock her off of her or not. But she took her chances.

Samus smiled. "Zel, you're such a crybaby." Samus rubbed her back in understanding. "But crying does help."

Zelda felt comfort from Samus as she continued to cry. Samus was reminding Zelda of her mother when she was hurt and she would go to her mother's arms. Zelda didn't know what she would do without a friend like Samus. "Sam, if there's anyone else I'm going to miss when I leave it's going to be you. I really am sorry. I will never doubt you again. And if Link kissed you it was probably because he was confused about his love for Veronica or me."

"Veronica?" Samus was puzzled. She stopped stroking Zelda's hair. "Zel, I never heard of you or Veronica."

Zelda looked up immediately. "What?"

"Well, not at the time at least. I mean I kissed Link before, but that was before you or Veronica showed up at the mansion. We were only thirteen back then."

Zelda looked up, quite confused. "I thought you kissed him while we were here."

Samus shook her head. "No. I thought you found out about the kiss from a long time ago."

"You always kept trying to tell me about what happened in the past with you two. But, I knew how close you and Link were. I was always fearful about what you were going to tell me. "

"I never wanted to really tell you. But you need to know." She took a deep breath. "Three years ago, when we first came to the SSB mansion, that's what it was called before you guys arrived, Link and I… we never really got along with each other. We would always bite each other's heads off with rude insults and we would always fight with our fists. It wasn't pretty. Believe me. Anyway, I don't know what happened but our hard metal-shelled hearts melted and we became the best of friends. And soon it developed to be more than just a friendship. We started to like each other a lot. And then one day, we admitted our feelings towards each other and then… well, we kissed. But after that, we only went out a few times before we realized we should just be friends. No offense, but your future boyfriend is a little slow in the brain and that's not too attractive."

Zelda giggled. "He can be." That was the first time she had laughed in a while. But she stopped when a realization came to mind. "But what does this mean about the kiss that happened here?"

"I don't know. While we were on Serine Isle and I did run into Link. He did all of a sudden try to kiss me, but I pushed him back. Then without word, he took off. I shrugged it off."

"But Link says you tried to kiss him. And then we caught you with him, trying to kiss him."

"That never happened. I never saw you guys once at the time." Samus explained.

Zelda gasped. "What is going on here?"

Samus scratched her head. "I don't know. It's all just too weird."

"But it no longer matters what happened. I'm leaving, so it wouldn't make a difference."

Samus sighed. "Yes. I know. But you're not leaving till after tomorrow, right?" Zelda nodded. The bounty hunter smirked._ The surprise party will have to wait._ "Well, you and me are going to do some investigating."

"Really? You're going to help?" Zelda's eyes grew big.

"Why wouldn't I? I can't see my best friend leave for no good reason. I will make sure you will not leave at all." Samus gave her a thumbs-up. "We're going to figure this out before you have to leave."

Zelda's face was beaming. "You have a plan?"

"No. But I have suggestions. Tomorrow we're going to do a little bit of traveling."

"To where?"

"I'll tell you in the morning. Just be ready and get comfortable shoes. You're not leaving me after we just made up." Samus sighed in aggravation. "I can't believe the time I wasted by being mad with you. I could have stopped you from going after Veronica. I could have thrown the punches for you."

"Don't worry about it. I needed to blow off some steam about that girl anyway. And honestly, it felt REALLY good." Zelda shyly said.

"You're spending _way_ too much time around me."

"Yes, you _are_ a bad influence." The two girls laughed. Zelda sighed deeply, glad to have her friend back. "You know. All day I was thinking about apologizing to you. I had fun yesterday, but it wasn't the same without you."

"Yeah, I couldn't have fun either. You guys just couldn't stay out of my head. It must be that strong bond the six of us have. It can't be broken. It's too strong for Veronica or anyone else to destroy. We just couldn't figure that out."

"Mm-hmm I agree. I'm sure we will all be able to hold a conversation again when Veronica leaves or maybe even sooner." Zelda loved those good old days. It was her favorite thing about being in SSBM. "Thanks, Sam."

"Anytime, Z." Samus started to lie down on her stomach and prop a pillow under her crossed arms. "I'm glad I could settle one of our problems."

Zelda did the same thing. "So, worried about you and Marth?"

"Is it that easy to tell? I really am trying to forget him. But I can't."

Zelda gave Samus a serious look. "Samus, I want you to think for a moment. Do you really think Marth would do something like that you?"

"No, I don't. But I'm not assuming it. I saw it with my own eyes."

"And that's what Marth said about you and Link kissing and you denied it also. So, what's wrong with this picture?"

Samus couldn't answer that question. "I don't know. It's just I can't grasp that this happened to me. He was unlike other guys. He was a gentleman. I never met anyone like him. I never thought he would act like that."

"There's your answer. You know for a fact in your heart, he didn't do it to you. Sam, he really misses you a lot."

Samus' green eyes lit up for a second. "I miss him too. But what can I say to him?"

"You'll know when you see him." Zelda yawned and placed her head on the pillow. "This will be the last day we talk like this."

"No, it won't. We're going to find some way to expose Veronica for the witch she is. It's not over till it's over."

"You're right." Zelda closed her eyes. _We're going to have to keep fighting._

**Hallway of 7th Floor**

Link let out a frustrated yell. "I'm so stupid! Master Hand tapes the doors at 11pm." He walked quietly down the hallway while looking for his room. He was already going to be in serious trouble if he got caught. As he reached his room an idea struck him. _I know magic. I can do Farore's Wind just like Zel. So, it's not over yet._

Link reached the front door. "Okay, here it goes." Just as he was about to do the spell he heard footsteps in his ear. He stopped and looked to his right. Veronica was there. He wasn't ready to talk to her yet, but he couldn't ignore her. He leaned against the door as she came up to him. "What?"

Veronica looked at him sadly. "Link, if there is anything I did to provoke you I'm sorry. I don't know what I did to hurt you, but I'll never do it again. And if it involves Zelda, I never meant to break your friendship with her. I would never try to do anything like that."

Link rolled his eyes. "Sure, Veronica." He muttered.

Veronica saw that Link was not going to be easily forgiving. Veronica groaned in sadness. "Link, please. I don't want you to be mad at me. You are one of the best friends I ever had. I cherish my friends more than anything."

_Where did I hear this speech before?_ He thought sarcastically. "It's fine, Veronica. I want you to still be my friend. But it just won't be the same."

"You're not mad?"

"I don't get mad over dumb things like that. I enjoy my friends just as much as you do. So don't worry about it, okay?"

Veronica jumped into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh thank you, Link."

Link reluctantly wrapped his arms around her. "You're welcome, I guess."

As he was hugging her, Veronica opened her fist. Inside it was a small tiny device. She softly pushed the device on the back of Link's neck under his loose hair. He didn't feel it at all. She went back to hugging him in a second. "You're so forgiving."

Link pulled away from the hug. "Whatever. I have to go inside my room before I get caught by MH. So, see ya."

"Alright then. I guess I will retire to my room also. See you in the morning." Veronica walked off to her room as Link teleported away. Veronica smirked. _Link, tomorrow you will do whatever I say._

**The Next Day**

"Zel, wake up. I have something for you."

Zelda's eyes opened for a second and then closed. She felt her body being shook lightly. "Come on, Zelda." Zelda gave in to the voice calling her name and opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry but she could make out a colorful box. When her vision was back she saw the colorful box was actually a gift. It was covered in light pink wrapping paper and was tied in a yellow ribbon. The gift was in Samus' hands. Samus was dressed in a robe and she had a towel over her head and a grin on her face.

"Happy Birthday, Z. You are officially 16 years old." She said.

"Oh!" Zelda forgot that today was her birthday. "It is, isn't it? It slipped my mind. Is that gift for me?"

"No, it's for Ganondorf." Samus laughed. "Of course it's for you. You're the only one with a birthday. Here."

Zelda got up and looked at the gift. She took it from Samus. The present looked too beautiful to unwrap.

"Go on and open it!" Samus said anxiously.

Zelda paused for a moment, but then prepared herself to open her surprise. She carefully untied the ribbon and put it aside. She then unwrapped the present slowly so she wouldn't ruin the beautiful wrapping paper. The unwrapped present was a box. She took off the lid and the real gift was covered in tissue paper. As she removed the paper something shiny caught her eye. She withdrew from the paper and pulled out the shiny item. She let out a light gasp as she pulled out a beautiful golden belt. The belt was a long chain with gold key ring type chains hanging from the belt and in the middle of each key ring was an emerald. The emeralds were a lot brighter than Samus' eyes. Zelda fell in love with the belt instantly.

"Sammie, it's gorgeous!"

"Glad to hear that. I thought I didn't have any taste in fashion. So, this was just a lucky choice in what was your type of style."

Zelda hugged Samus. "Thank you so much. It is so cute." Zelda got up quickly. "Oh Farore. Now I have to wear something cute and green so I can wear this belt. And then I have to have the right shoes and oh! This is just so cute! I never received anything like this. Thank you, Sammie! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Samus smiled. "You're welcome, Zel."

Zelda let out a high pitch squeal. "I'm going to get ready right now!"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Zelda's happiness stopped. "Hmm? Someone's at the door."

Zelda went to the door. She opened the door to reveal Peach. She was dressed in her blue dress. "Hi Zellie! Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks, Peach." Zelda said. "Glad you remembered."

"And I wanted to be the first one to tell you."

"Sorry. But Samus beat you to it."

Peach blinked fiercely. "Samus did?" Peach looked from behind Zelda and saw Samus. Samus nodded in clarification. "Does that mean?" Samus and Zelda both nodded. Peach felt a grin growing on her face. She squealed in joy! "Aah! You guys made up! I'm so happy right now." She grasped Zelda's hands. "This really brightens my day. I thought the three of us were through being the world's greatest trio!"

Peach jumped from Zelda to Samus. "Sammie! This is just so cool!"

"Mm-hmm." Samus agreed.

Zelda decided to get approval from Peach. "Peach, look at the belt Sammie gave me."

Peach gave the same response Zelda gave when she received the belt. "Oh my gosh. That belt is so cute! And totally fashionable! I've never seen a belt like this in any of my fashion magazines and I have like every single one! Good choice, Sam. Didn't know you had good taste in fashion. Which reminds me."

"What?" Samus asked.

"You know what, Sammie. Remember what you promised you would do on Zelda's birthday."

Samus blushed and laughed hesitantly. "Oh, right."

"What is it, Sam?" Zelda asked.

"Sammie here, promised to wear a skirt or dress today for your birthday outing with us."

Samus nodded. "And I did. Check it out." Samus removed her robe and let it drop to the floor. She was wearing a red halter-top that exposed most of her back. She had on a white skirt with red roses on it and the end of the skirt was trimmed in red. The skirt went to her knees. She then removed her towel and her golden blonde hair fell down in loose spiral curls. She was even wearing a little bit of make-up. "So what do you think?"

"I knew you would look cute in a skirt. I like this outfit on you," commented Zelda.

"Super cute, Samus. You're a total hot babe. You can probably snag older guys looking like this." Peach winked.

"Older guys, huh?" Samus thought of Garrett instantly but then she stopped short of her thinking because Marth came to mind next. "I don't think so. It's just an outfit."

"To you." Peach straightened her gloves. "Let's head down for breakfast."

"I have to get dressed first, Peach!" Zelda rushed to her closet. "I have to get something green to wear with the new belt Sam got me!"

"Oh, let me help! This my specialty!" Peach followed her to the closet. "I can pick a good outfit in a heartbeat."

Samus rolled her eyes. "My two fashion-hyped friends. I can't believe we can actually be the best of friends."

**Downstairs Breakfast Room**

"Hey Marth. Marth? Earth to Marth. Come in!"

Marth broke his trance and looked at Falco waving his hand in his face. "Hmm?" he answered.

"I asked you to past the butter a few times now."

"Sorry. I'm just spaced out." Marth passed the butter to him. "Here you go, Falco."

"Thanks." Falco went to spreading butter on his toast, not wanting to ask Marth what was going on. But Roy, Fox, Luigi, and Mario were curious. Fox decided to speak up. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm cool. Just thinking."

Roy looked concerned. "Thinking about Sam again?"

Marth gave Roy a warning look. "Roy..."

Mario stopped Marth from going any further. "We already know the whole thing, Marth. We can tell it's about Sam and Link told us about it already. That's rough, dude. It's good you haven't gone into a mental break-down or anything."

"It's not bugging me. I'm fine. She's the furthest person from my mind."

Luigi tried to reach him. "It's okay to admit that you miss her, Marth. We won't tell anybody."

"What's there to tell about that?" Falco muttered before he bit his toast. "It's just two star-crossed lovers here. It's just like Fox and his little girlfriend Krys-

Fox's hand went flying over Falco's mouth. "No talking with your mouth full, Falco!"

Mario ignored what just happened. "We know how you feel, Marth. It happens sometimes and then your macho feelings won't express how you really feel."

"Mario, I'm fine. Luigi, don't worry about it. Everything is fine." Marth hoped that would end their suspicion.

Luigi and Mario exchanged glances and then shook their heads. Falco sucked his teeth in frustration. Fox and Roy just looked at their hopeless friend. Marth was a wreck and he didn't even realize it. Luigi sitting across from Marth saw someone far away from them. "Hey, isn't that Samus? She looks a lot like her."

Mario looked next and gasped. "Momma Mia! It is her, but she has turned into a hot…" Mario paused and thought about his words and then spoke. "I mean prettier girl."

Those words made Marth turn around. Samus was a distance away from him. But he could see her outfit clearly. She was looking beautiful. He had never seen her in a skirt before. But that's not what really caught his eye. Samus was talking to a guy he did not know. He had a sword on his back and long hair in a ponytail. He was wearing a black and red jacket and black pants. He and Samus looked like they were in a lively conversation. A sudden feeling started to spring into Marth. And he knew exactly what it was. But he would drop dead before he would admit it. He turned back around. Luigi, Fox, Mario, Falco, and Roy were looking at the other guy, but when they felt Marth's eyes on them they went back to their food. They acted like they didn't see a thing.

But then Roy looked up and said one thing. "Told you so." He said, referring to last night's talk with Marth.

Fox narrowed his eyes at Roy. "Roy, shut-up. It's nothing, Marth, don't worry about it."

"She's probably asking him about something. She's only devoted to you Marth. Who else better?" Mario added.

Luigi and Falco didn't say a word. They knew the truth about what was going on and so did Mario and Fox. But they weren't going to lie in Marth's face about it. They just continued to eat their food. The last thing they needed to do was get Marth's hopes up. And to top it all off, it was none of their business. Peach appeared on the scene.

"Good Morning all!" she said in a bouncy voice. She saw Roy open his mouth and all she did was turn away. "Might as well save your breath, pyro boy. You can't get me down today. I'm happy because Zelda and Samus made up last night."

Surprisingly Marth responded to Peach's words. "They did?"

"Mm-hmm. It was so sweet. They're talking and everything."

"So, Zelda is okay now?" Luigi asked. "Even though she's going to be expelled and has to leave?"

"No worries, my green-hat-wearing friend. Zelda isn't leaving." Peach announced.

"Not leaving?" Mario echoed.

"Yep. You'll see what I mean later. Anyway…"

Young Link came up to the table with Pichu on his head. He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Morning. Anything good to eat?"

Pikachu jumped up into a chair from the ground. He sat in the seat next to Falco. "What's the party plan, Peach?"

"I need you guys to get the party going. I need you to get everything set up because I'll be out with Zelda and Samus. Oh yes, Marth and…" She groaned. "...Roy, you guys need to come with us. She won't suspect anything if her friends are with her. I was going to ask Link, but I haven't seen him yet. Young Link, is he in the room?"

"No. Link was gone when I woke up this morning. And that was about 7am."

"Hmm? Oh well. Guess he'll have to miss out. So, anyway, Mario I'm leaving you in charge of this party with Fox and Luigi helping you. Keep everything on task, you guys."

"Roger that, Princess." Mario saluted.

"Hey! Why can't I be in charge?" Falco interrupted

Peach crossed her arms and sighed. "Because you're going to go take your ship to go get Zelda's other surprise. Remember?"

Falco slightly turned red. "Eh heh, heh! Um… I knew that."

Peach lowered her eyes. "I'm sure you did." She laughed it off and turned to Marth and Roy. "Okay, guys. Be at Joypadana River Walk at 4pm. You can get there by train." Peach pulled a paper out of her pink furry purse. She gave the paper to Marth. "I'm going to give it to Marth since he's the brains of you two. These are the directions to the place and bring Link along if you find him. We'll meet you by the train station. You remember how to take the train right, Marth?"

Marth nodded. "I remember, but why do you want us to meet you guys out there?"

"Okay. Here's the thing." Peach sat down next to Marth and lowered her voice. Everyone else grew quiet so they could hear what she was about to say. Peach didn't mind the eavesdropping, so she proceeded in spilling the details. "Samus say there's something out there that we need to see. So, we're going to check it out. It's some house or something like that."

"Without permission?" Young Link asked.

"Yep. It's a top secret mission."

"So, you're breaking into someone's house." Luigi theorized.

"I wouldn't say breaking into someone's house. We're just going to go in without them knowing what we're doing." Peach explained.

"So...you're breaking into someone's house." Luigi repeated.

Peach sighed, seeing she couldn't sugarcoat it. "I know. I know. That's not very princessy. But we're going to do it anyway."

Marth didn't like the idea. "Are you sure you girls can go alone? Maybe Roy and I should come with you. It sounds pretty dangerous."

"And we can't handle danger? We're smashers, we can handle ourselves. You guys just stay here and hold the fort. That's the main reason we need you guys to stay here. To lower the suspicion."

"I see. But it's still risky to go without some male protection, if you know what I mean." Marth eyed Peach.

Peach rolled her eyes. "I know exactly what you mean and don't worry. You see that handsome guy talking to Samus over there? You're not going to believe it. He's Veronica's brother."

"No way!" Mario squinted over to where the bounty hunter was. "Actually when you look at him a second time, you can see the resemblance."

Marth didn't bother to turn around. He hadn't even met the guy and he was tired of him. Luigi grew quite curious. "So, is he as bad as Veronica?"

"No, Samus says he's the exact opposite. She says he's sweet, kind and quite the gentleman. She says he's so considerate and he listens to what you have to say. She met him yesterday after you guys had your big fight." Peach looked at her watch. "Look at the time. We need to get out of here. See ya!" Peach skipped off to Samus. Pichu left Young Link's head to follow her.

Marth watched Samus stop talking as soon as Peach arrived. Zelda came over next and then the four of them left out of the building. He had some thinking to do.

**Joypadana Train Station**

"Ooh la la! Joypadana is beautiful!" Peach said with awe.

Zelda didn't see the beauty. "But Peach, it's just a mountain. Nothing special about it."

"Yes, but did you see the estate on top of it?"

"No, I missed it." Zelda responded.

"We'll get a better view when we get up there." The two princesses turned around to see Samus coming back. She had three tickets in her hands. "That is the place we're going to inspect."

"Are you serious? That place is bound to be flooded with guards." Peach exclaimed.

"No, it isn't. Garrett told me that the people I met at this bar I went to yesterday are the only bodyguards today. They're okay guys so they won't bust us or anything. Mr. Walden will be out all today."

Zelda paused her breathing. "Mr. Walden? It's his estate?"

"Mm-hmm. This is where the whole Walden Family lives. Right here in the central point of Nintendo. The headquarters of everything." Samus said proudly.

Zelda smirked. "Oh, I see what you're planning. Veronica's evidence…"

"...could be right in that estate." Peach ended the sentence.

"Bingo." Samus said. "We're going to have to get up there by the little sky climber right there."

Zelda's face started to turn pale. "The sky climber? Oh, I hate heights!"

* * *

"Is it over yet?"

Samus looked out the window of the trolley. "We're almost there, Zel. Just hang on a little bit longer."

Peach decided to get a conversation going. "So, Sam? Why didn't Garrett come with us?"

"Well. He said he was going to check on Veronica for us. He said they were all supposed to meet for an early brunch I think."

Zelda glanced at Samus for a second while trying to avoid looking outside. "Do you really think you can trust him?"

Samus nodded. "I'm sure of it. He's true to his word."

"Really? When was he?" Zelda kept her head up, even though she was forced to look at how high up they were.

"Well, the time he…" Samus paused for a second. "Um, it hasn't happened yet. But I'm sure it will."

"See? That's what I was afraid of. We might be walking into a trap." Zelda placed her head down. "This is not good."

Peach stood up to look at the estate coming in view. "He seems trustworthy."

"Yes, he does. But I just can't trust anyone in the Walden family. You see what's been happening to me and Samus and just about everyone else." Zelded reminded her friends.

"I know, but trust him. He can't be wrong. He's too kind to tell a lie to me," Samus said quietly.

Zelda frowned. "Excuse me for saying this, but… don't you have a boyfriend?"

Samus's green eyes flared at that question. "I guess."

"You guess? Yesterday you were talking about how you missed Marth. Why do you keep switching, Sam?"

"I don't know. It's hard."

Peach put a hand on Samus's shoulder. "Hard to what? You love Marth, don't you?"

"…" Samus didn't respond. She put her head down.

Zelda didn't like this response. "Samus, what's the truth?"

"Maybe I never loved him like I thought I did. But it wasn't his fault. It was mine. I guess I wasn't ready at all."

"So, you like Garrett?" Peach assumed. "After basically half a day?"

"No. I don't like him either." Samus raised her head again. "It's confusing, girls. I just don't know whom I like anymore. I just need…"

Peach looked out the window. "Let's catch up on that later. We're reaching the end of the trolley."

Zelda turned from Samus and stared out the window. They were reaching the end of the ride. "We better teleport out of here."

Peach grabbed Zelda's hand quickly. Zelda held out her hand to Samus. "Come on, Sam." Samus got up and quickly grabbed her hand. Zelda closed her eyes and concentrated on her destination. Veronica's big estate came into her head. She should feel Farore's magic glowing and soon she teleported. The next moment, she felt wind blowing in her face. She opened her eyes to see herself at the front door of the estate.

"Well, we made it." Peach looked at the scenery. "Nice place."

The estate was a beige color in gold trimming. There was a manmade pond surrounding the mansion and the girls were standing on the bridge, which lead to the front door. The house was like a castle. The front of the house had a beautiful garden with just about every type of flower planted in rows. A large gate surrounded the whole mansion. The good news was no one was in sight.

Zelda eyed the whole front yard. "Looks like no one hangs around here."

Peach adjusted her crown. "Great. When I thought Veronica was good she told me she lived on an estate in her own private area. No one was allowed to be on the property or at this train station unless invited. They own the whole mountain."

Zelda shook her head. "I wouldn't be that selfish if I owned a grand place like this. Well, let's go do some investigating around here. Samus, are you okay?"

Samus had her arms crossed over her chest, indicating to Zelda she was still deep in thought about their talk on the trolley. "I'm fine."

The front door opened. Peach and Zelda gasped as a man came out the front door. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a green shirt and blue jeans.

"We've been caught!" Zelda cried.

"Run for it!" Peach screamed.

"Hey, keep your voices down!" Samus said, canceling out their voices. They both stared at her confused. "Relax, you guys. He's one of the guards I was telling you about. His name is Ace. He was a bartender at the Corner Pocket. How're you doing, Ace?"

"I've had better days. So, you ready?"

"Yes, we are. Come on, girls."

Ace moved aside and let the girls in the mansion. The entire room looked just liked their mansion. Everything this place had the SSBM mansion contained. Except this estate had more statues and artwork around the room. And there was a golden staircase. But there were three other people in the room. One had black hair and green eyes, the other had brown hair and brown eyes, and the last was a large man with blue eyes and red hair. Samus recognized them all.

"Okay. So we can avoid even more screams, let me introduce these guys. This is Hyde, Jay, and Moe. They're the other three guards."

Hyde smiled. "It's nice to meet you, fair princesses."

_Now he's all kind. _Samus shrugged it off. She looked at the house. "Okay let's divide the house. Zel, you go upstairs. Peach, take the right and I'll take the left. We'll meet up once we're done searching."

"Okay. And does everyone have their communicators?" Zelda asked. Samus and Peach held up theirs and nodded. Zelda checked her own wrist and saw her wristwatch. "Okay, whoever finds something, call the others."

"Okay. Or if we get scared." Peach said. "This place is kind of creepy."

"Alright then. See you guys later." Samus started to walk to the left. Zelda headed up the stairs and Peach scurried to the right of the mansion.

**Train Station**

"Marth?"

"Yeah?"

"It's 2pm, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Oh… just making sure."

"Why?"

"Because we shouldn't be here until another hour and a half."

Marth glared at Roy. "I know that."

"So, why are we out here?"

"I can't let her go fall in love with some other guy. Samus is my girlfriend and I'm not going to lose her like this." Marth said quickly.

"So, you finally realize the importance of being with her?"

"Yes. I do. He's not stealing her away from me. She doesn't know him well at all. She's only sixteen. She doesn't need an older guy like him. Besides it's only been one day. She can't be over me."

"Nice logic." Roy jumped to what basically Marth was trying to say. "Why don't you just say that you miss her?"

Marth let on a smile. "Okay, I do miss her. A lot."

"Good. Don't you feel better now that you got that off your chest? It's like being cleansed of all wrongdoings."

"I don't know if it's that exact feeling."

"Yeah, you're probably right. What are you going to say to her when you get to Joypadana?"

"Don't know yet. But I'll think of something. It will have to be well thought out and convincing. It will require some thinking time."

"Not my field of fun. I'll leave that to you, buddy boy. Maybe we should stay here a bit and you think about it before we take the next train." Roy found a bench and sat down on it. "You don't want to say something stupid in front of her."

"Good idea." Marth sat on the bench across from him. "How to start?"

"I don't know. I think you know what to say though."

"I got it. First I'll say 'I'm sorry'." Marth said proud of his idea.

Roy stared at Marth long and hard. "Well, yeah… I figured that much. And I'm sure no one ever says 'I'm sorry' Marth." He added sarcastically. "Why don't we try this again?"

"Okay." Marth was quiet for a while. Then he snapped his fingers. "Got it!"

Roy looked up hopefully. "Yes?"

"I'm really, really, sorry Samus." Marth said triumphantly. "Yes."

Roy lowered his eyes. "No." He groaned. "This could take a while."

**Joypadana Mountain Estate**

"If I were Veronica, where would I hide top secret evidence?" Peach scratched her head. "Hmm? Well, if I were her, I would find the nearest shredder and shred all the evidence or I would burn it or throw it all in the ocean."

Peach left the fifteenth guest room she had inspected. They all look the same but had a different color as their theme. The bedrooms were empty. All the cabinets and nightstands were empty of no clues. There wasn't even a spec of dust in the room. When she came out she saw there were many other rooms to inspect. She took her chances and skipped all the guest rooms and headed for the last door down the hallway.

Her feet were killing her. How she longed to be carried by someone just about now. Her thoughts entertained her as she walked through every room. She then wondered what the guy would be like._ He would be tall, handsome, and would defend and protect me with all their heart and soul. His personality? He would be sincere, caring, and have a funny personality that would cheer me up on my miserable days. Who would that be? No it couldn't be him. We are two very different people. How would that work out?_

Her thoughts carried her all the way to the furthest door. It was open and it was pitch black. Peach felt nerves climbing up her body and coming to her throat. She knew now that whatever was down there was going to make her scream at the top of her lungs. She stopped right at the door and peeked inside. She could make out some stairs. She moved her hand around and found the railing. Peach grabbed onto it tightly as she eased herself down the stairs into the darkness.

"Why am I here? This place is so creepy. I need some comfort." Peach's knuckles were turning white as she grabbed the rail even tighter. "Where is the … ouch!"

Peach hit her head against something. She rubbed her head and squinted through the darkness. She made out a light switch. "Finally."

She flicked the switch. "At first I thought it was a… a…" Peach's eyes grew large as she saw a spider in her face.

**Upstairs**

Zelda jumped as she heard a loud scream. She recognized the voice. She pressed down on her communicator. "Peach, what's wrong?" she said quickly.

"_SPIDER! A BIG, BLACK, HAIRY SPIDER!"_ Peach screamed through the communicator.

"Oh, Peach!" Zelda said agitatedly.

Another voice came onto the communicator. "_Who screamed?"_

"It's okay Sam. Peach just saw a spider in her face."

_"That girl is so… ugh. Tell her she likely scared the spider off with that big mouth of her."_

"I think she understands Sam. I think she's over it. I'll check in with you guys later." Zelda turned off her communicator and looked down the long corridor. There was one more room to the left of her."

She sped up her walk into a run when she reached a room. As she looked inside, she paused for a moment. This was Veronica's room. Her entire room was purple. She had a few things that were a different color. She had a large lavender canopy king size bed. All the pillows and sheets were purple and her initials were embroidered in gold on each pillow. The computer was an LCD (Liquid crystal display). The monitor was cover in a purple fuzzy fur. There was a laptop next to the computer, which was purple and gold. The carpet was purple and the walls had a lavender design on them.

Zelda walked inside the room and looked inside. Veronica kept her room neat. Everything was put in the right place. Zelda found herself looking over by a desk with a very large mirror. She walked over to the desk and saw something else that caught her eye. There was a picture on the desk. Zelda picked up the frame. There were two girls in the picture. She recognized one of the girls to be Veronica but the other she did not know. The girl had blonde hair and blue eyes the same shade as Zelda. She looked on the sides of the frame and saw two names.

"Veronica and …Katy? This is the girl. The girl Veronica killed." Zelda stared at the picture. Veronica had an arm around Katy and Katy had one around Veronica and they were both smiling. They were in swimsuits at the beach. "Katy looks so innocent in this picture and so does Veronica. How could Veronica just change like that?"

Zelda saw a book in the corner of her eye. She looked to see a familiar book on the desk. It was Veronica's diary.

**Left Side of The Mansion**

Samus couldn't really tell if she actually looking hard enough or not. She had been through the kitchen, dining room, and a lounge. There wasn't a single clue. She was now standing in the last room. She sighed. The questions Peach and Zelda asked her infected her mind. She never felt so confused. She couldn't give a straight answer at the time and she still couldn't. Samus crossed her arms. _I miss him so much. But he doesn't want t come back to me. He can get any other girl he wants. Why would he want to return to such a fool as me? And why do I want to go back to someone who abuses me?_

"I can't go back to him." Samus shook Marth from her brain and continued her search. She checked the desks and the cabinets. Nothing. She checked frames the files and papers. Still nothing. Samus saw a closet in the corner. Her last chance. She went to open the closet. As she opened it slowly, she looked inside. Her eyes almost popped out of her head. This was no ordinary closet. There was another room inside the closet. But it was hidden behind the rack of coats. Samus pushed them aside and looked in the room. There was a door blocking the room and there was a number dial on the door. The room was locked and needed a combination.

Samus rolled her eyes. "Please. You can't keep me out." Samus pressed her right earring. A green scanner came on over her right eye. She then focused on the lock as she pushed her communicator towards the number dial. She pressed a button on her wristwatch. "Find the combination." She said quietly.

Her scanner on her eye started to show four numbers. The numbers were spinning like a spinning roulette. The numbers started to slow down. The scanner made a tiny beep and showed the combination.

"7-7-7-7 huh? Gee, that's unique." Samus said. She put the combination in and the door opened. "No way. Is that a computer?"

Samus's guess was right. The secret room was a computer room. It was a very large computer room. The room was full of technology. Samus walked in and looked around. _No one around. I figured this much._

As she reached the computer she heard footsteps. "Oh no." she said quietly. She eyed a desk not too far away. She ran over quietly to the desk and hid behind it. She tried not to make a sound as the footsteps entered the room. She looked up as a guy entered the room. She recognized him as Garrett.

"Samus are you down here? It's me, Garrett."

Samus sighed in relief. She got up from her knees. "Yes, I'm over here. Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"No it's just me. I'm quite surprised that you figured out the combination to this." Garrett advanced towards her. "I found this room a long time ago. But I didn't have a combination to it. I knew you would figure it out though."

"It's nothing when you have state-of-the-art technology. Figure out combinations in under 15 seconds." Samus brushed some blonde hair out of her face. She looked up at him. "Uh…" When she looked at him she noticed he was giving her a dreamy look. "Are you okay Garrett?"

Garrett chuckled. "It's nothing, Samus." He walked up to her and stared into her eyes. "Nothing at all."

Samus stomach started to turn about, when Garrett held his hand out and started caressing her cheek. "I've been blind this whole time." Samus tried to step back but she was prevented from doing so when she backed up into a wall. He leaned his right arm agaisn the wall right by the side of her head as he drew closer. "I could have never been more lucky to meet someone like you." His face was making a move towards her face and the same went for his lips towards hers. Samus's eyes were being overpowered by Garrett's gaze. His amethyst eyes hypnotized tried to fight back in her mind. _Come on Sam. Break through. This may seem right and this may be the way you want it to be. _Samus closed her eyes as his lips closed in on hers._ But there's someone else. And he is still with me and no one else can replace him._

"Mmm." Samus opened her eyes. She broke away from him before his lips reached hers.

She got loose of his grasp. "No. This can't happen."

"What?" Garrett was shocked by her response.

"I can't do this, Garrett. I'm sorry but you know I have a boyfriend. And this isn't right." Samus ducked under his arm and got on the other side of him.

Garrett crossed his arms. "I don't understand. You still can't be in love with him can you?"

"I wouldn't say love. But I still do like him." Samus replied. "After all, he's the reason I don't feel so alone in this world anymore. I thank for everything, but you and I can't be more than friends. Maybe not even that." Samus grabbed a note from her pocket.

"I wandered into a servant's bedroom and found an interesting note." Samus watched Garrett's eyes widen. "Know what it says? It tells the servants that they can go home for the day because your father was going on an overseas day trip with you and Veronica. Strange, your father is back at the Nintendo Resort finalizing Zelda's expulsion, while you're still here. But you couldn't let the servants stay here..." Samus crossed her arms. "After all, you can't have them interfering with the trap you've set up for me, Peach, and Zelda. Or should I say the trap that Veronica has set up?"

"You found out..." Garret spoke.

"Easily when you leave evidence around."

Garrett gave Samus a blank stare and then turned his back to her. He sighed in defeat.

Samus walked over to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry it has to be like this, Garrett. But I can't talk to you if you're siding with your sister."

"I am too, Samus." he said in a whisper. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this."

Samus looked at Garrett's back since he was facing opposite from her. "Wouldn't come to what?"

"Heh." Garrett raised his head and it contained an evil grin on his face. "I'm not going to let you and your friends walk out of here so easily." Garrett moved so fast Samus couldn't see him in time. Garrett grabbed the hand on his shoulder and spun her around grabbing her other hand. Before she could protest, Garrett pinned her face first into the nearest wall. "I can't let you go back to that idiotic swordsman. You can only belong to me."

"Get off me!" she tried to pull free.

"I'm afraid I cannot. Veronica's orders." He stared at Samus's scared face as it lifted from the wall. "I never have seen this side of you. Fear. I love it! You express it well and yet you are still beautiful."

"How long have you been leading me on?" Samus asked.

"Ever since we met. I wasn't supposed to meet you but I did anyway without Veronica's orders. But we can talk about this later when we get better acquainted. Moe!"

Samus heard a loud thumping behind her. She saw the large man Moe coming towards them. He stopped right in front of them. "Yes, boss?"

Garrett loosened his grip on Samus on his right hand. While still holding Samus with one hand he dragged her over to Moe. He threw her over to him. His strong arms quickly grabbed her tightly. "Handle her."

Samus gave up trying to break free from Moe's overwhelming strength. "Why do you support your sister? This has nothing to do with you."

He gently tilted her chin to look at him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, I think it was none of your business either."

"It is when my friend is in danger."

"Well then it's mutual. My little sis needed me." He dropped her chin. "Babe, I would love to continue this conversation a little longer. But right now, you're going to take a little nap."

Samus didn't have time to respond. She felt a hard blow to her neck. Her eyes shut quickly as she blacked out.

**Upstairs in Veronica's Room**

**Dear Diary,**

**These days of therapy are really helping. I'm not thinking of Katy as much as I used to. I feel so much better now. My dad is so proud that he said I could visit the SSBM mansion until the Nintendo Festival. I'm so excited. I'll get to meet all the Zelda characters. I'll meet Ganon and Young Link. And my idol Princess Zelda will be there. She's so beautiful and elegant. I envy her. I may have more wealth than her but I desire to be her more than myself. Not only do I get to meet her. But I get to meet Link. Link is so handsome. I think I can get him to like me. I hope I am able to. We're leaving tomorrow.**

**Dear Diary,**

**Remember before how I was happy to meet Zelda. Well I no longer am. Turns out, Zelda is in love with my Link. That little boyfriend stealer. Yes I know he wasn't my boyfriend but I know he would be in love with me if Zelda weren't around. Well now I'm going to have to do something about this. Yes Diary, I'm going back to my original self.**

Zelda stopped reading the diary. This was enough. She read the other entries of Veronica's plans to get rid of her. That evidence was good enough to clear her name. _I better tell Samus about this._

Zelda pushed the beeper on her communicator. "Samus, are you there?"

No answer.

"That's not like her. She usually answers right back." She pressed the button again. "Samus, answer me." No response. Zelda got worried. "I better call Peach." She pressed the button for the third time. "Peach, please tell me you're here."

_I'm here. Is something wrong, Zellie?_

"I'm fine. But something weird is going on. Samus isn't answering her communicator. I don't understand. She usually answers back and she still hasn't."

_I know. I've been trying to reach her too. I wanted to tell her I found some great-_

Peach cut off her sentence. Zelda started to get even more worried. "Peach? I didn't hear you? What did you say-

_"GET AWAY FROM ME!"_

Zelda could hear Peach's voice in a panic. She didn't respond to Peach's voice. Another voice that wasn't Peach's came on the communicator in the background.

_"Have a nice fall, Princess."_

Peach's scream came ringing through Zelda's ears. Her eyes grew large. In a few seconds she could hear a crash and things fell to the floor breaking. She could hear it all. The communicator turned off. Zelda was turning pale. She started to panic. "Samus! Peach!" Answer me please!" No one responded back.

Zelda was alone now. She knew now what had happened to Samus and why she hadn't been responding. Something happened to them. Zelda was afraid. She didn't know what to do.

"Oh, Farore, I'm alone here." Zelda dropped the diary on the ground. Her heart started beating rapidly.

"On the contrary." A male voice said

Zelda heard a click. She turned around and froze in place. Right in front of her were the two guys Jay and Ace. Both of them had guns out.

Jay smirked. "You will be joining your friends shortly."

Zelda had her eyes on the two guns. She still did not move and did not utter a word. Ace moved a bit closer. "Come quietly and we won't shoot."

Zelda stared at them. She didn't know what to do. But as they came closer she did the only thing she could think of at the time. She used her magic. She sent Din's Fire towards them quickly. Jay escaped from the attack as he jumped out of the way. But Ace took the attack directly and fell on the ground. Zelda took this chance to run out the door. She ran all the way to the door. Jay got up quickly and let go of the trigger before she got out the door. The bullet was quick but it missed Zelda by a hair and it hit the edge of the door. Zelda let out a scream as he shot it but she kept on running.

"Samus! Peach! HELP ME!" She screamed.

Zelda made her way to the stairs. Both guys were up and they were firing shots without aim. Zelda had an advantage since they had terrible aim while running. Zelda started to run down the stairs. "Peach! Samus! Where are…" She skidded to a halt in the middle of the stairs. She gasped in horror as she saw the other men at the bottom of the stairs. But that's not what made her even more scared. Samus and Peach were down the stairs also. But they were being held captive by two of the guys. Peach was in the arms of the man called Hyde and Samus was slung over the shoulder of the so-called trustworthy Garrett. Both of them were unconscious.

Moe was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well," Moe broke the silence. "Looks like we have your dear friends."

Hyde was enjoying Peach in his arms. He was looking at Peach in a sick way. "And a fine catch it was."

Zelda didn't know what to do. "Peach… Samus… no… this can't." Zelda backed up into someone. She turned around to see Jay and Ace had caught up. Before she can yell, Jay struck her hard on the head. The blow knocked Zelda to the ground. Zelda felt numbness all over. Her vision was darkening. Before she blacked out she could hear Garrett's last words.

"Game over, Zelda."

**A/N:Oh dear. This cannot be good. Yep, these girls are in grave danger. What will happen to them? Is anyone coming to save them? I don't know. See you later.**


	18. Unhappy Birthday Part I

**ATTENTION! ATTENTION! WARNING, WARNING! This chapter is fairly long. Turns out this story, still has three more chapters left or two. The next will be an extra for you reviewers and readers. But it's a surprise; it's probably nothing you ever witnessed before. I'm not giving out any hints. You'll just have to wait and be surprised. I'm happy I got to put this chapter up early. We had a fog delay! No school for two hours. Thank you for your reviews and we continue with….**

**Chapter 18**

**Unhappy Birthday Part I**

"It is …FREEZING!" Zelda rose up from her long nap and grabbed her arms for warmth. She started to rub her arms. "Why am I so cold?" She looked around the room she was in. The room was a small tight place with white walls. But as Zelda looked even harder she saw the white wall was actually frost growing on the walls. _What is going on here? _Zelda looked around and saw two figures in the frost. Two girls she knew very well. Zelda tried to rise but she fell right back down. "I can't even stand." Zelda looked over at Peach and Samus. They were both still unconscious. Zelda decided to crawl over to them. The cold kept her from moving fast, so she slowly moved over to them. As she got within range she called one of the girls. "Peach." she said weakly.

Peach's eyes twitched and she stirred. She almost didn't respond but, the cold made her wake up. Her blue eyes looked at her surroundings. "Unh." She groaned as she tried to sit up. "Why are we in an icebox?"

"Icebox?" Zelda looked around. Peach was right. They were in an icebox. A very cramp icebox. "This is an icebox, isn't it?"

Unlike Zelda, Peach was able to get up and stand. "They could have at least locked us up in a decent room. We are ladies after all, not bums. Even Bowser does a better job than these idiots when he kidnaps me."

"Even when we're in peril, Peach. You always have to be treated well don't you?" Samus was finally up, but she wasn't standing. She was still lying on her side. Zelda successfully stood this time and walked over to Samus to help her up. But Samus brushed her away. "I can get up. Don't worry. I just need to lay here for a minute."

Peach was still inspecting the room. "How can they lock us up in here? There's meat in every single spot in this room. Revolting! And there's not even a single window."

Samus rose up at that comment. "It's not a lovely hotel room. This is a prison. In their case anyway." Samus let out an agitated cry. "I still can't believe we fell for this stupid trap."

"I can. I knew Garrett was nothing but trouble." Zelda closed her eyes and tried to Din's Fire.

"Yes. I know. I just found out too late. The evidence was real to me when I found the note in the servant room. Sure, it didn't say that he was lying to me straight in the face but I put two and two together and found out he was just like his sister."

Peach was inspecting the meat. "That's too bad. He was so handsome. I guess it's like they say: It's always the good looking ones."

"Simple mistake. Happens to the best of us." Zelda said quietly. She finally opened her eyes. "Why can't I do it? None of my magic is working. I tried the magic of Nayru, Din, and Farore. No luck. No healing powers either."

"That's expected." Samus stood up and grabbed her arms for warmth. "They don't want you to use your powers so you can escape out of here." Samus glanced at her wrist. "Looks like they took our communicators too. I don't have my transformation watch either."

Peach looked at her wrist. Her pink communicator was gone. "Very sly. What was the point of keeping us locked up anyway? If anyone finds us here, we'll just be set free." The reason popped into Peach's head. "Wait. She wants us to get caught. Then we'll really look bad. And then we'll all get expelled."

"That girl thinks of everything." Samus saw something in the corner of her eye. She walked over to the corner of the room. There was a device on the wall. She inspected it. "This is not good. There is a thermometer on the wall."

"Aren't thermometers in a freezer?" Zelda asked.

"Yes. But that's not what I'm looking at. The temperature is slowly dropping. We're at 13 degrees Celsius right now. Now, it's 12…" Samus stared for another 7 seconds. "11… we need to get out of here before we freeze our butts off."

"I think freezing to death is the central problem here." Peach ran over to thermometer. "There isn't a single thing we can do. Oh no. I can't imagine worse than this!"

Zelda didn't think anything else could happen. "Worse than what?"

"My lips are all chapped up. I want to look decent if I have to die in here."

Samus stopped staring at the thermometer and slanted her eyes to Peach. She shook her head at the curly blonde princess who responded with an innocent "What?" Zelda stopped her magic and made one more swift check of the room. There wasn't a single window and there was a steel door without a handle on it. _What are the chances of getting out of this mess?_ Zelda sat down on the cold, icy floor. _Pretty, pretty, slim. But wait._ Zelda closed her eyes and focused._ There might be one way to get out of here. But I'm going to need absolute silence._

**Nintendo Resort**

"Anybody see Link yet?"

"No, not yet."

Young Link sighed. Where was his big brother? He hadn't seen him all day. But he was getting strange feelings. As he was sitting cross-legged on the floor Mario came by. "Hey, Young Link. What's wrong?"

Young Link jerkily shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just sitting here thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"It's nothing. I'm just pondering about different things."

Mario crouched down next to Young Link. "You're too young to be pondering. You're supposed to have fun like regular kids."

"And I do. But when I…" Young Link paused for a moment. _There's no point in explaining it to him. Mario just doesn't understand us, kids._ "Can I have some time to myself please if it's not to much trouble?"

"Okay." Mario walked off not giving Young Link's behavior a second thought. Young Link closed his eyes for a second. He kept them closed for a long time. In a second, a purple light flashed before Young Link. In front of him appeared Mewtwo. Young Link gave himself a silent cheer for reaching Mewtwo. _Hey, Mewtwo. Thanks for hearing me out. I need your help._

_I'm willing for favors. As long as it doesn't involve stealing candy for you again or trying to get you out of trouble. I'm listening. It seems you have troubling thoughts._

_I do. It's faint but I think I can sense Link. Don't ask. It's just this feeling I get. I can tell he's going to get into some serious trouble. I don't know what it is but I keep seeing these things from our world called tri-forces. Well, two of the pieces are in a fight in my mind. Farore of Courage and Nayru of Wisdom. These two never fight. It's usually the other piece Din that causes all the fighting. Anyway, I think this is a vision of the future. And since Courage belongs to Link and Wisdom is Zelda, I think they are in for some rough challenges concerning them._

Mewtwo nodded. _I see._

_I know it's kinda on the weird side, but I'm unsure of their safety right now. And I was wondering if you…_

Mewtwo finished Young Link's sentence. _Would try and find Zelda and Link?_

_Exactly. I can't get there by myself._

_Well, I wouldn't want you to come with me. If everyone starts disappearing from this party Master Hand or Walden will get suspicious. And then they'll start to wonder and then you know what comes next._

_Yep. It would be best if I stayed. I can't really give you a clue to where Link is. Our connection isn't really that deep._

_That won't be necessary. I'm getting a small connection from one of them already. I can't tell who it is yet. But I can track whoever it is._

_That's good. Thanks, Mewtwo._

_It's no trouble at all. Cover for me._The glow appeared in Young Link's eyes again and Mewtwo left again. Young Link said a silent prayer to himself hoping for Mewtwo's safe return and for the safety of his brother and Zelda. As he finished, one of his many best friends Pikachu, came dashing up to him. Young Link opened his eyes as he heard Pikachu stop right in front of him. Young Link put on his best fake smile. "What's up PK?"

"I haven't seen Pichu all day. Have you?"

"Not since this morning when we went down for breakfast. She wandered off somewhere and I never saw or heard from her after that. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Not a clue. But where would she go? She usually tells me where she is going before she goes anywhere. Where can that little pokemon be?"

**Joypadana River Walk**

Pichu looked up at the tall mountain. She didn't know where she was. Her ears blew forward as the chairlift rose up to the top of the mountain. Pichu knew she didn't have any money for the chairlift so she hopped on top and took a ride. Earlier on in the day, she saw Samus, Peach, and Zelda take the chairlift up to the top of the mountain. She didn't follow them then because she still wanted to check the surroundings around the mountain. There was really nothing out here. There were only two buildings and they couldn't really be considered buildings because one was a stable and the other was a shed chock full of supplies. Now you would say this probably is boring, but to a 5-year-old pokemon, anything is fun. So, Pichu stayed out there for another few hours since she fell asleep in the tall grass surrounding the shed.

Pichu squinted through the wind blowing in her eyes. She could see her stop up ahead. Without thinking Pichu jumped off the chairlift as she reached the end of the lift ride. She used her agility she could reach the mountain. The shocks from her agility made her twinge a bit but she kept on going till she reached solid ground. She landed on her feet but tumbled into a small bush. Pichu started to rub her eyes. "Pi." She said quietly. When the pain was gone she poked her head out of the bush her eyes made connection with a black iron gate. Behind the gate were even more bushes. Pichu found herself on a quest. The quest to find her friends. Pichu hopped out of the bushes and went up to the iron bars. She took a deep breath and tried to leap through the bars. Her head luckily made it through but her round body got stuck. Pichu may have been small in height but her sweet tooth made her round in figure. But after a little bit of tugging she made squeezed through the bar. She tumbled again while curling up in a little ball thinking this whole quest was fun. She stopped rolling when she hit a nearby fountain. Pichu sat up and shook her head.

"Pi?" She hopped up onto the fountain. As she looked into the fountain, unknowing to her, Jay and Hyde walked out at the moment. They were heading towards the fountain and Pichu still did not notice them. The tropical fish swimming around in the water were entertaining Pichu. As they reached Pichu they almost saw her when they looked up, but Pichu lost her footing when she tried to touch the fish. She slipped right into the fountain making a tiny, inaudible-to-ears splash. Jay and Hyde walked right passed the fountain without giving it a second thought. They were too busy talking.

Hyde was talking at the moment. "What is taking Veronica so long to get here? I want my end of the deal."

"What was it again?"

"She promised me that she would give me a choice of which girl I can keep for my own. And I already know which one I want for my own."

"If it's Samus, you might as well forget it. She's mine and mine alone. No one else deserves her except me."

"Fat chance. You're going to have fight for her because that day I met her in the bar, I knew right then I was going all the way with her."

"That's sick. Why would she want to do anything with you when I'm around?"

"Many reasons, my dear friend. Then again, you can probably have her and I'll take that blonde chick with the big blue eyes. When I was holding her in my arms she looked like a delicate little bud waiting to be bloomed by the Hydster."

"Fine with me. But as long as they're locked up in that freezer there's a chance no one will get any girl. They're going to be frozen icicles soon."

"Icy… but still hot." Hyde said with a grin. "I just thought of something. As long as Garrett is here there's no chance of anyone getting Samus. He said no can touch her and if he catches us near Samus, he's going to make sure we regret coming near her. If you know what I mean."

"Oh yeah, I know." Jay thought about Garrett sharpening his sword ready for kill. "There are possible ways to avoid this. We can take him out with the help of Moe and Ace. He can't take on three people on the same time."

"Don't you mean four?"

"You know I never liked math. Too much thinking."

"I'm really starting to wonder what year you dropped out of school. I like your idea though. We can take on Garrett. Once we handle him, we can get all the girls and take them for our own. We can even take that elven princess. She'll be a joy. I can see the fear on her face right now. She'll be helpless without her little Link around her."

"She'll be like a tiny mouse caught in a mousetrap. She'll be a slave to whatever we do to her. But didn't Veronica say leave her alone so she can handle her by herself?"

"Veronica Smeronica. Didn't you hear what she said she was going to do to the princess? She's going to give her a little surprise before she kills her. The keyword here is she's going to eventually kill her. We can't let that happen. So we gotta get these three divine gals and get outta here. Before she shows up."

"Didn't know that. Do you have a key to the freezer where they are being kept."

"No. We'll have to get it from Garrett."

Pichu poked her head out of the fountain. She could no longer hear what they were saying. Pichu hopped up onto the fountain. She didn't understand anything they said except for two things. Her friends were in trouble and they were being kept in the freezer. Pichu's ears twitched to the sound of a door squeaking. To her left, was the front door of the mansion wide open?

_My quest continues. _Pichu thought quickly. She leaped out of the fountain and pranced over to the door. She stopped at the door and looked inside. There wasn't a guard in sight. But then two characters appeared on the scene. Moe and Ace were standing by the stairs.

Ace had a bag in his hands. "Here take these and hide them somewhere. You never know what could happen."

"Sure. I know where I can hide it. Leave it to me." Moe took the bag and waited for Ace to leave. As soon as he was gone Moe took the items out of the bag. Pichu recognized the items as Zelda, Samus, and Peach's communicators. Moe took them and hid them in a little drawer sticking out of the wall. "No one will ever look there. Wonder what they got to eat around here." Moe left for the kitchen.

_Here's my chance. _Pichu thought. She dashed inside the room. The tile floor was cold on her paws but she continued to run to the drawer. She twitched her ears like an antenna to find any footsteps coming her way. She could hear the guards' voices using her big ears but they were far away from this room. Taking a chance to check the drawer she jumped up and grabbed the handle to the drawer. . She pulled the drawer out and climbed inside. Her feet hung out of the drawer.

"Pi?" _There aren't any communicators in here. It's empty. _When she tried to get a closer look her whole body fell inside the drawer as it closed. Pichu was stuck inside. She was going to push the drawer open but the drawer tilted backward and Pichu was in for the ride of her life. She slid down the drawer into a type of slide. She slid back and forth in twists and turns. Pichu squealed in glee enjoying the ride. She held her hands up like she was on a roller coaster. The slide made turns for a while but then at the end was a long straight drop.

"PICHU!" Pichu yelped as she fell down the drop. She dropped into a basket full of sheets and clothes.

"Hmm?" Moe said.

Garrett looked at his companion's face. "What is it now?"

"I thought I heard something."

Garrett shrugged his thoughts off. "It's probably that greedy gut of yours. I'll show you where the food is."

Pichu poked her head out from under the sheets. The drawer she crawled into was actually a laundry chute that leads to the basement. Pichu felt something rough under her. She moved a little to the right to see what it was. They were the orange, and the two pink communicators. Pichu took off the green backpack she was wearing and stuffed the communicators inside of them. _Part one of the Great Pichu's quest is complete. Now I have to find the prisoners in this large castle. _Pichu sniffed the air. _I can smell a very familiar smell down here._

Pichu hopped out of the laundry basket on the cold, sticky floor. There was only one light, flickering and fading on and off. Pichu continued to sniff the room. The scent grew stronger as she moved towards the corner of the room. Pichu stopped sniffing right in front of a vent. The vent was wide open. Pichu poked her head in and sniffed inside. _I can smell it much clearer now. It smells like an expensive perfume. It must be Peach's. Looks like this is the place to go._Pichu hopped into the vent and continued her long journey.

**In the Freezer**

"What's the temperature now, Sam?" Peach asked.

Samus weakly looked up at the thermometer. It was almost frosted all over. She made out the numbers though. "I think 7 degrees. It's been that way for a while now."

Peach slumped against the wall. "It better not get any worse. I think my hair is about to chip off. I'm freezing in here!"

"You're not the only one. I'm really starting to hate you even more, every time it gets colder, Peach." Samus said while looking at her.

"Me? What did I do?"

"You made me where this stupid spaghetti strap top and skirt! I can barely move my toes because you told me I had to wear some stupid sandals. If I weren't so cold right now, I'd walk over there and strangle you!"

"Hey, beauty comes at a price." Peach naturally said.

Zelda was in a corner with her knees hugged to her chest. "A little hostile aren't we, Sammie?"

"Mm...whatever," Without warning, she grabbed the ends of her skirt and started to pull it down her legs.

"Sam?" Zelda was quite confused. "What are you doing?"

"Getting this torturous skirt off me." She slipped the skirt off of her, revealing some black jean shorts, she then proceeded in taking off a scrunchy that was wrapped around her ankle and tying it around her hair. "That's a lot better."

"Ah!" Peach gasped. "You little cheater! You said you'd wear it all day."

Samus snorted. "Please, did you really think I'd get through the day wearing this skirt? Take it back." She chuckled along with Zelda before tossing it at Peach.

Peach swiftly caught it. "You know, a lot of girls would kill for this skirt!" She stopped ranting for a moment."Did anyone notice this little device in the corner of the room here?" Peach was now looking at a device she was lying on. "I think it's a speaker."

Zelda and Samus looked at the device on the wall. Peach looked at Samus. "It looks like one, doesn't it?"

"It is one. We can talk to Garrett and his goons with that thing." Samus took her hands off the thermometer and looked at the speaker. "What room do you think they're in?"

"What do you want to talk to your boyfriend for? Didn't he get us in enough trouble as it is?" Peach asked in a quizzical tone.

Samus frowned. "First off, stop referring to him as my boyfriend. Secondly, we can probably convince them to get us some blankets so we don't freeze in here."

"Forget it! They'll freeze up too and I don't want to see their ugly faces come through that door. They make me sick! The little perverts." Zelda muttered the last part under her breath.

Samus sat down next to her friend. "I really am sorry, Z. I should have known earlier. But I promise we're going to get out of here."

The steel door to the freezer swung open. Two of the men were standing by the door. Neither of them were Garrett to Samus's relief, but rather Hyde and Jay. Peach decided to be the brave soul to speak. "Is there some reason you all want to bother us? We were having a lovely time until you guys showed up!"

"We don't have time for small talk. You and you over there." Hyde was referring to Peach and Samus. "You're coming with us."

"What for?" Peach asked.

"That's none of your concern. Garrett told us that you three can't be trusted together." Hyde ran a hand through his black hair.

"I thought you said it's none of our concern." Peach pointed it out.

"Shut-up! I don't need you correcting me!" Hyde snapped.

Samus looked at her left out friend. "What about, Zelda?"

"She will remain here." Hyde answered. "Now can we get a move on?"

"No. Not until you get my friend out of here and some place warm. I'm not going to let her freeze to death."

"I'm not leaving either." Peach stepped back from the door.

"If Garrett wants my friends so badly, why didn't he come get them himself?" Zelda was starting to get worried about the hungry looks the men were giving her two best friends. She knew that look all too well.

"You know, you two should be thanking us." Hyde said. "We're rescuing you girls and taking you away to a really nice place, and we're sure you'll just love it." he answered as his eyes grew wilder from staring at the girls.

"And of course, we'll want a reward for our heroic rescue. If ya know what I mean." Jay added.

Samus grew disgusted. "You must be joking."

"You're not going anywhere with my friends. I won't allow it." Zelda bravely spoke. But she backed down as the men shifted their hungry eyes on her.

"Oh we'll come back for you too, Miss Zellie. We couldn't leave a beauty like you by yourself." Jay answered before turning back to the other girls. "So ladies, shall we be going now?"

"You must be out of your mind if you think we're going anywhere with you creeps!" Peach planted her feet on the ground. "We're staying right here!"

"It wasn't up for negotiation." Jay grabbed Peach's wrist roughly. "Let's go!"

"Hands off!" Peach jammed her foot into his stomach. Jay doubled over and grabbed his stomach. "You may have had us at an advantage earlier, but not this time. We're not as weak as you think we are."

Hyde was coming for Peach. But then above the two, the vent was rattling. Samus watched Hyde look up at the shaking vent. Samus got up quickly and charged at him. With one quick movement of her hands, Samus pushed Hyde right out the door. Peach kicked Jay out of the room with her foot and then shut the door on both of them and used her body to bar the door. "Good thing that vent above us started rattling." She watched Samus run over to the speaker and shut it off so they couldn't hear anything else.

Zelda looked up at the vent. "Why is it rattling?"

The three girls watched the vent continue to rattle. In a few seconds, the vent fell off and crashed to the ground almost hitting Samus. Not only did the vent fall but something else fell out of the hole. A small round object fell into Samus' arms. Peach looked at the thing from her position on the door. "It's a small, yellow ball."

"A fuzzy, yellow ball." Samus said. The ball started to twitch and move. Samus almost dropped the object but held it tight. "Uh…"

Zelda looked at the object. "I don't think it's a yellow ball." Zelda watched the little ball unfold into a small, yellow mouse. "It's Pichu."

Samus looked at the mouse. Pichu was smiling in her face. "What do you know? It is Pichu." Samus held up Pichu by the waist. "How'd you get here?"

"Pichu pi!" she chirped.

Peach scratched her head. "I think she followed me when we left the resort. I thought I saw her on my way out. Good thing she's here though."

Pichu got free of Samus's grasp and hopped onto the ground. She took off her backpack and placed it in front of Samus. Samus picked it up and opened the bag. She gasped. "Pichu has our communicators."

"What?" Zelda rushed to Samus' side. She saw her pink communicator hanging out of the bag. She pulled it out and stared at it. "I thought they would have smashed these things a long time ago. Where did you find it?" Zelda thought about what she just said. "Nevermind." She picked Pichu up and hugged her. "You got them all by yourself? You're so brave." "Chu." Pichu nuzzled her head against her chest. She started to get real comfortable. Zelda let Pichu rest in her arms as she looked at the door. "There's only a matter of time before they come back here."

Samus took out Peach's communicator and tossed it to her. Peach caught it swiftly and then pushed her body against the door again. "I know. We need to get out of here. Maybe the same way Pichu got out of here?"

Zelda shook her head. "No, we're too big. But Pichu coming out of that vent made me realize something. There has got to be some kind of larger vent producing all this cold air. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Peach, keep barricading that door alright?"

"Sure. Leave it to me." Peach pushed on the door harder. "The vent might be behind those frozen meat products. I hope it's big enough."

Samus headed over to the corner of the room. "It will be." She pushed some meat aside. "We should worry if there's even one in here."

Pichu being small only pushed the small meats out of the way. Zelda went to a rack of steaks hanging from a wire. She pushed them aside carelessly. "If there was ever a national disaster where we run out of food. We know where to go first, huh?"

"Not here. All this meat would make me want to become a vegetarian automatically. I feel sorry for the poor animals that have to watch their family members' carcasses lie in an icebox." Peach looked around with her own eyes to try and find the vent. "Anyone find it yet?"

"No, not yet. This might take a while. Oh, Din! That's disgusting!" Zelda backed away from the meat. "Some of these meats are just rotting dead bodies. There's four dead rabbit carcasses back there. I think there's a pig with it's head chopped off."

"What kind of home are they running here?" Peach asked.

"Here, I found it." Samus pulled away the last slab of meet. And look, it's loose." Samus pulled it off with relative ease. The cold air started to shut off and the machine started to shutter. "We're getting out of here after all."

Zelda dropped the meat she was holding and hurried to the furnace. "Do you know where that large vent will lead to?"

"To the outside I'm hoping. There's only one way to find out, let's go through. And to tell you ahead of time, Peach, it's going to be a nasty crawl." Samus looked around the room and her eyes fell on what she wanted. She picked up a large steak. "This one will do. Come on, let's go. Zelda, you go first with Pichu."

Zelda obeyed and grabbed Pichu and her backpack. Samus moved aside and let Zelda crawled inside and Pichu held onto Zelda by her shoulder. Peach hesitated at first but crawled in anyway. She already started complaining as she went inside. Samus rolled her eyes and climbed in after her. When she was inside she turned back to face the freezer. "We have to cover our tracks."

"That would be a good idea." Zelda called from ahead. "How are you going to do that by the way?"

Samus didn't answer. She stuck her head back inside and pulled the swinging furnace vent door shut. And since the vent had bars she could stick her arms through. She maneuvered her arms to fit inside the bars and she grabbed the large steak she picked up earlier. With all her might she pulled the meat in front of the now closed furnace. "Maybe now they won't follow our trail."

Peach came crawling back over to Samus. "Here let me help a bit." Peach pulled of her blue pendant in the middle of her blue dress. She turned it upside down and on the other side was hairpin strapped to the back of the pendant. She pulled it off and got in front of Samus.

"What are you going to do with that?" Samus asked. She tried to see what Peach was doing, but Peach's hair blocked her from seeing.

"Believe it or not, hairpins are pretty handy." Peach was screwing all the furnace's screws tightly with her sharp hairpin. "There we go. All nice and tight. They'll never notice a thing. Well, for a while anyway."

Samus raised her eyebrows. "Wow. I'm impressed. Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"My friend Princess Daisy is a tomboy. She learned how to screw things and pick locks with hairpins from some boys in her kingdom. And since she knew I was a hairpin fanatic, she taught me this skill whenever Bowser kidnapped me or something."

"Hmm. Good technique. I'll have to remember that."

"Pichu, Pichu pi!" Pichu called.

"I can hear them too, Pichu. We need to get moving. I can hear their footsteps from far away and they're all coming." Zelda called back. She started to crawl forward and Pichu continued to clutch onto her tightly.

"We're coming!" Samus and Peach called. They crawled after their two friends.

When Zelda heard their two voices she started to crawl a little faster. The space in the vent started to get bigger and it became easier for them to move. As they continued to climb she started to wonder what everyone else back at the Nintendo Resort was doing. This wasn't something she was expecting to do on her birthday, but in a creepy sort of way it was exciting and adventurous. As she was thinking she heard Peach in back.

"Did anyone see that spider move?"

"No. I saw a roach though." Samus replied.

"Roaches?" Peach cried out.

Those words made Zelda jump too. Just like Peach, even though she never admitted it, she was as scared of bugs as Peach. Perhaps even more.

"Hey." Samus hissed. "You want them to hear us? Voices echo through every room when we're in a vent."

Zelda nodded and took a deep sigh. But as she did this, she felt a small tickle on her right hand. She looked at her right hand and let out a tiny gasp. On her hand was a brown, yellow, and black snake. It wasn't moving at all. She could feel a scream inching up her throat but she covered her mouth and the scream changed into a small whimper. The snake quietly hissed at her. She felt someone bump into her.

"Hey." She recognized the voice. It was Peach. "Why did you stop?"

Zelda was trembling. "Sn…sn…snake." She muffled through her mouth.

"What?" Peach said. Peach looked over her right shoulder. "Oh, you said snake."

Pichu was about to cry but Samus covered a hand over Pichu's mouth. "Don't cry, Pichu. We can't take that risk. Besides it a baby snake."

Peach surprisingly took the snake off of Zelda's hand. "To be more precise it's a gopher snake. It's not poisonous and doesn't eat human flesh. Yes, this snake is harmless. Now if you're a gopher, it's a whole different story." Peach smiled as she looked at the snake. "It's a female. And she's a little cutie when you look at her."

Peach's knowledge of what type of snake it was, already freaked out Zelda and Samus. Now Peach had to top it off by picking it up and saying it was cute. While Zelda was recovering from her fearful experience, Samus gave Peach a long, hard stare. "Where do you learn all this?"

Peach stared back. "What? Oh you mean the whole snake thing." She was already letting the snake coil around her hand. But the snake seemed to take a liking to Peach because it didn't try to cut off her circulation. It just hung on her wrist like one of Peach's accessories. "I told you I have a tomboy friend and she tells me just about everything concerning nature. And it's not like Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi didn't teach me a little about wildlife."

"You're scared of all the bugs in the world, but you'll let a snake hang around you like a bracelet? I underestimated you Peach." Samus said with a smile. "You do have your tomboy days."

Peach smiled back. "Thank you."

Zelda was getting fairly annoyed. "As pleasing as this conversation is, can we get out of here? I rather not see what else is crawling in here."

"Fine. But I'm taking the little snake. She can probably scare off the insects and besides I think she's taken a liking to me."

"Okay, enough snake loving. Let's go!" said an agitated Zelda. "I think I see a ladder up ahead." Zelda rose up when she reached the ladder since the room was large enough room for her to stand. It was a cramp room and only she and Peach could crawl into the cramped space with the ladder. Samus had to stay on her knees in the smaller tunnel. Zelda put her hands on the railing. "I guess the only way out of here is going up."

Samus tried to look up at the ladder to see where it ended but she could not see it from where she was crouched. "Well, lead the way and hurry up. The fumes in this vent are making dizzy. And make sure you check what's up there before you climb all the way up."

Zelda started to climb the first step. As soon as she started to climb, she could feel dirt collecting onto her hand. She could no longer hear the men coming after them. Their footsteps had faded away, but Zelda hoped that it didn't mean they found out how they escaped. With those thoughts, Zelda rushed up the ladder faster. Before she climbed the last step, she decided to do what Samus advised her to do. "There's nothing up here," She spotted something above her. Unlike the tunnels made of iron there was one outcast square made out of wood. On the side of the piece of wood were hinges. She called down to her friends. "Girls, I think this door above me leads to the outside. It's like a trap door in a way."

"That's good to hear. Now we can rid ourselves of this mansion and it's nigtmares." Peach gripped the bar of the ladder even tighter.

Zelda placed her hand on the door. This whole thing seemed too simple to her. She realized it a little too late. As soon as she put small impact on the door, her ears picked up on men's voices. They were all too familiar. "They're here."

"No, they can't be." Samus backed off the ladder. "I thought they wouldn't find out. I guess they're smarter than I thought."

Peach climbed down the ladder quietly and Zelda followed her. Zelda looked at Samus. "What do you think we should do? Should we head back to the freezer? "

"And freeze into ice cubes?" Peach spoke before Samus could get a word in. "I say we stay in here and besides they're probably blocking off the ice chest ."

Zelda heard a loud thud. She saw her friend Samus on the ground leaning against the tunnel wall. "Samus what's wrong?"

"I don't know." Samus closed her eyes and did some silent breathing. It was more like she was trying to get some air in her lungs. Pichu hopped off Zelda's shoulder and went down on the ground. Pichu's cheeks were lightly sparking and her eyes started to droop. "Pichu." Zelda kneeled down and picked up the little pokemon.

Peach dropped to the ground also. "I don't know why I'm so tired. I can't stand anymore. I just…need…sleep." She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

"You guys have to get up. They'll be in here soon." Zelda shook Peach roughly in attempts to make her get up. Samus was already knocked out and sleeping soundly. "Why are they doing this?"

"I guess that sleep powder does work on humans. I thought it only worked on pokemon. It must take longer for us to become fazed by it. It's not working on you though. Must be that strong magic resistance Veronica was talking about." Zelda recognized the voice as Garrett's. He was standing right above the trap door. "Give yourself up, Princess. Your friends can't help you and we have you surrounded from both sides. You can't use your magic with that strong gas in there. It blocks off all magic. We can thank one of the Nintendo Characters for selling it to my beloved sister."

"Zelda…" Peach said weakly. "Teleport us out of here."

"Teleport? I can't, Peach. You saw what happened earlier. My magic wasn't working. They blocked it off with that gas."

"Come on, just concentrate. Don't believe what they say. You're allowing them to make you think you can't do it." Peach opened her eyes for a second but then closed them. "Remember in the fire. You found a way then and you can find a way now."

"But…" She turned her gaze to the weakening Pichu and Samus.

"Please, Zel. We need to get out of here or we're just going to be put somewhere else where we won't have any chance of escape."

Zelda knew this was the only way. And for her friends she would take a risk. She got down on the ground and placed a hand on Peach and Samus. Pichu weakly grabbed on to Zelda. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She could already feel the magic not responding but she didn't give up. Just like in the elevator, she cleared her mind and focused on teleporting to the train station since that would be a distance away from the estate. It was tiny but she could feel Farore's power reaching out to her and Zelda was reaching back. There were a few strains of pain but she was able to get past it. Farore had reached her and she knew she could now teleport. She focused on the train station again and then she felt cool air blowing. Wind was blowing around her. This was Farore's power. There was silence for a moment but then she could hear nature around her. She opened her eyes. She was now some meters away the Joypadana Train Station.

"Told you, you could do it." Zelda felt Peach's eyes on her. She was no longer sleepy. She winked at her. "You always had it in you. And look, you're not even fainting this time." Samus was fully awake also.

"Yes. But I still have a small headache." Zelda grasped her head for a second. She felt like falling over again but Samus placed her hands on her shoulders to prevent her from doing so.

"When we get back we're going to need to work on that magic of yours. We're not out of the woods yet!" Samus said, heading to a random train. "Let's get out of here, pronto!"

"Don't we want to take the train that will take us back to the resort?" Peach asked.

"No. They'll be expecting that. Let's take this one and besides that one's not here yet."

Zelda saw the train in her direction. "Sam, it's right there."

Samus glared at Zelda. "Listen! Just trust me on this one okay? Don't ask questions. The more time we hang around here, the more time they have to catch us in case you didn't know!" Without getting a response, Samus left for the train she had decided upon. "If you guys want to get caught, go ahead and get on that other one ."

"Did we do something wrong to her?" Zelda whispered to Peach.

Peach talked in a low voice. "She's still mad about being tricked. Nothing serious. In a way, she's right."

Zelda didn't have a plan anyway. Samus was the one usually with the plans. "Okay, let's go. "

"We better get on that train before Samus flips attitudes again. Come on now." Zelda got onto the train with Peach by her side and Pichu at her heels.

The train was empty. At least that train car was empty anyway. The only one in the room was Samus. She was busy fiddling with her communicator. When she saw her friends come on, she stood up. "Sorry about my attitude earlier. This is really getting me all tense and agitated. I don't mean to be all cranky sounding and stuff. It always happens when I try to suppress my anger."

"It's fine, Samus. Just try to suppress it a little more because you're scaring us with this surprising attitude." Zelda explained.

"I'm trying." Samus turned to the back of the train. "I hear they have small stores at the back of these trains. Maybe I can get a map and see where this train is heading." She walked in a fast pace out the back door to the back part of the train.

Zelda took a seat in the vacant seat Samus was sitting in. She looked out the window. The train was starting up and they were about to go on a journey to who knows where.

**Another Train**

"That took too long. We're going to be late now. It's already 5:00." Marth rammed his head against the window. "How did this happen?"

"We were waiting for you to come up with some way to apologize to Sam. But I didn't think it would take you that long. Now we'll be a little off schedule."

"How about an hour off schedule?"

"You know the more you ram on about it, the worst it's going to sound and you're going to blame it all on yourself."

Marth ignored Roy's comment and hit his head against the window again. As he did this the train stopped at a train station. Marth grew angry. "This about the 5th stop. How much further does this thing have to go?"

"Patience, Marth." Roy couldn't believe what he had just said. Tell Marth to calm down? How the tables had turned. Marth was usually the calm one and he would have to tell Roy to chill or shut-up. _Who's the mature one now! Maybe Peach will think twice before giving that map to Marth next time and give it to yours truly. Ha! _Roy started snickering that eventually turned into a laugh. He received a stare from Marth. "What are you laughing about?"

Roy realized he was now laughing out loud. He turned as red as his hair. "Nothing. Inside joke."

The train doors opened again and Roy looked out the window. He saw a familiar face. "Hey, Link's outside."

Marth refrained himself from banging his head against the window again. "Link?" He looked out the window when he pressed his fingers against the glass. He recognized the green tunic and hat right away. "That sure is him."

Roy hopped out of his seat. He ran for the door. "We gotta go talk to him!"

"No, wait." Marth couldn't get the words out before Roy was out of the train. He groaned and got up quickly and walked out after him.

Roy called his name when he was close enough. "Link! Over here!"

Link looked away from the other trains and looked at Roy. "Roy, what are you doing out here?"

Roy stopped in front of him. He places his hands on his knees as he bent over to catch a breath. "We're… on… our way… to Joypadana River Walk Estate Mountain." Roy took a large breath after saying all those words at the same time without taking a breather. "Where've you been?"

"I was doing early morning training here. It's a nice, quiet, and isolated place. There are very few people here. And well… I'm done now."

Marth caught part of the conversation towards the end. "So, you can come with us. We're supposed to meet Zelda and everyone else at that Joypadana place. We can go now."

Link shook his head. "Sounds good, but I can't. I have places to be."

"Places to be? And where would those places be, Link?" Roy asked suspiciously.

"That's none of your concern." Link turned from him and tried to leave but Marth blocked his path. Link frowned. "Move." He said in a low voice.

"No. Tell us where you're going. It doesn't have anything to do with Veronica, does it?" Marth questioned him.

Link grew a bit tense about that question but showed no physical emotion of it. "Don't worry about it, okay? If it does, what does it matter to you? Now, move so I can be on my way."

"No, tell us what's going on." Roy said as he blocked Link's other side. "You're up to something, because no way in heck would you miss Zelda's birthday. She's your best friend."

"I'm going to be there. But I can't go now. And then again I may not show up at all. Who says Zel is going to come anyway? She's too depressed about leaving. I don't want to say it again. Move out of the way, Marth!"

Marth stood firm. "I already told you, I'm not moving."

Link rolled his eyes and glared at him. "Idiotic fool." He muttered. And in half a millisecond he had his grasp tightly around Marth's collar. Marth tried to get loose but Link was amazingly strong!

"Link, what are you doing!" Roy said as he looked at what he was doing to his friend.

Link ignored Roy's wonder. He kept staring at Marth. How he hated the prince's blue eyes. He just wanted to punch them out. "When I say move… I mean MOVE!" Link let out an angry noise and with all his strength he threw Marth right into one of the banisters of the train station. People who were already looking at them started to scream.

Marth's back made contact with the banister bar roughly. When his arms hit the bar, the pain shot up from his elbow up to his shoulder and down to his hand. He let out a small cry from the pain and grabbed his arm.

"I can see why Samus is in love with that Garrett guy and why she kissed me. You're nothing, Marth. I really don't know why you're even a part of Melee. As weak as you are, who can expect much from you? Samus surely can't." Link spat.

Marth's eyes instantly shot up at those words. "You..how dare you even..." Marth was livid, and wanted nothing more than take Link down at that moment.

Link turned away from the fallen swordsman. He was pleased with what he did.

Roy was trying to contemplate what just happened. He tore his eyes away from Link and went to Marth's side. As he looked at Marth, he could see his injured arm. "Link, what did you-"

Roy saw Link was no longer in sight. All he could see were the onlookers looking at the now injured Marth and some were calling for a doctor. Roy turned back to Marth. "Is it broken?" Roy tried to help him with his arm.

"No. I think it will be fine." He tried to get back up with the arm. But the pain shot through his arm again. "Ah!" He went back down.

"That was stupid, Marth. Of course that arm's going to hurt."

"It's not hurt okay, Roy." Marth used his injured arm again. The pain kept surging through his arm. "Link..." He muttered angrily. "Thinks he knows everything."

Roy knew what this was. He grew angry with Marth. "Will you just shut-up!"

Marth looked at him in shock.

"You always do this. Just a few words out of Link's mouth and then you get angry with him. Be the better man here, Marth. What Link did was uncalled for. But now you go and mutter things about him just because he takes you down. Sometimes I wonder if I'm more mature than the both of you put together. Now I don't know what's wrong with him, but we'll deal with him later." Roy looked up and saw their train leave. "And there goes the train. We'll have to wait again. Maybe you need some cool down time anyway before you go see Sam now." Roy held out his hand. "Now man it up and receive help when you need it."

Marth hesitated. He just kept his eyes on the floor. Roy shot his hand back. "Then fine. Stay on the floor like the jealous little boy you are." Roy started to walk away.

Marth knew Roy was right in everything he just said. Except Marth was everything but jealous. He sighed and held out his undamaged hand. "Fine. Help me up. Even though it's hard to admit, you're right, Roy."

Roy turned around and walked back. "Oh where's my 'Roy is right' coin jar when I need it?" He grabbed Marth's hand and pulled him up. "Glad you came to your senses again."

"Fine, you were right. But I am _not_ jealous." Marth clarified. When Marth got up, he looked at the arriving trains. He noticed one of the train's names and lowered his eyes. "And this is why Peach made me navigator. The train is still here." He grabbed his hand and cradled it.

"Oh, well then, let's vamoose!" Roy ran to the train forgetting about Marth's injured arm.

Marth ran after him successfully without any pain. "Mature huh?" Marth rolled his eyes at that thought. But then he thought about it again and smiled. "Eh… he's getting there."

**Joypadana Mountain Estate**

_How did they get away? I left you in charge. I thought you and your blasted goons could handle three weak girls!_

"I'm sorry, sister. We had them but then they overcame the impossible. They just keep surprising us all." Garrett said calmly to Veronica.

_I DON'T WANT ANY MORE SURPRISES. I WANT SUCCESS! GET THEM BACK HERE IMMEDIATELY GARRETT!_

"Don't worry, Sis! This is no sweat. I have someone who will be able to bring them back and will they be in for a big surprise."

_You're positive?  
_  
Garrett laughed. "For sure."

**The Train**

Zelda looked out the window for about the fifth time. "Where is this train taking us? This train hasn't stopped even once."

Peach was petting Pichu behind the ears. "Just relax, Zelda. It's far away from everything else."

_That's what I'm afraid of._ Zelda thought quickly.

Beep! Beep!

Zelda heard her communicator go off. She lifted her wrist and saw a green light flashing. Peach poked her head in. "Who is it?" Zelda couldn't believe it, but she said it. "It's Link."

She pressed the button on the communicator. "Yes?"

_Hey, Z! Happy birthday!_

_He's talking to me. _She thought with glee. She smiled. "Thank you. I thought you forgot or you weren't talking to me."

_I'm not mad about what happened, Zelda. Just a little shocked, but otherwise I'm fine. I can't be mad at you forever. You're my friend. Where are you?_

"You're not going to believe it if I told you. But we just escaped a house with some creeps that kidnapped us and put Samus, Peach, and me in a freezer. Pichu saved us."

_Pichu? Are you pulling my leg?_

"I'm being serious. She's the one who brought us back our communicators and gave us a way to escape.

_Well, I guess even the smallest pokemon can be heroes. But that's all bad. I wish I can find you, but I'm out in the mountains past Joypadana training and stuff. I'll stop and come find you before you get in any more trouble._

Zelda sighed dreamily. "How heroic."

"Please." Peach muttered sarcastically.

Zelda ignored her. But then she remembered what Link had just said. "Did you say past Joypadana Mountain?"

_Yep. The next stop after Joypadana is where I am. It's called Gamma or something like that. Why?_

"We're on a train. Heading out that way. We can come meet you."

_That's great! I'll meet you there._

"Okay. We'll be there when the train stops."

_Great. Can't wait to see you. I have a surprise for you._

"Surprise? What is it?"

_Come on, Zellie. You know the saying. If I tell you, it won't be a surprise._

Zelda defeated, gave up on that. "You're right. I guess I'll see you then."

_Later!_

Zelda turned off the communicator. "This is going great. We can tell Link everything."

Peach didn't quite agree. "Are you sure he'll listen?"

"Maybe not. But when he sees what we found he'll give in. Speaking on that subject, what did you find?"

"Oh! I didn't tell you guys. It was…" Peach stopped for a second. "Where's Samus? She's been gone for a long time now."

"I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Just as Peach was going to talk again on what she found, a purple light flashed in the room. It scared them for a second but then they remembered the only person they knew who could do that. Mewtwo's light had come into the train as he teleported right in from them and he appeared to the girls.

_Hello, princesses._

"Mewtwo, what are you doing here?" Peach asked.

Zelda answered that question. "I called out to him when I was sitting down on the ground in the icebox, remember? I was trying to get some help from him to get us free."

"Kinda late for that, isn't it? Not like it's your fault or anything, Mewtwo," Peach added, so she wouldn't get the pokemon on mad.

Mewtwo shrugged it off._ Zelda, I have something important to tell you._

_What is it?_ Zelda called back. Peach was able to hear it and contribute.

_Young Link thinks something is terribly wrong._

_What is it?_

_He thinks that danger is going to occur between you and Link._

_What? I just talked to him._

_He doesn't know if he's right. He thinks someone going to attack you two._

_I think he means Veronica. And I was expecting that. But Link and I can handle her. No problem. We're going to get rid of her._

"Are you sure?" Mewtwo watched Zelda nod. He started to talk regularly. "Well, I'm going to stay just in case. So that we can help if something is wrong."

"Thank-you." Zelda said quietly.

"Yes, the more help, the better." Peach added. "Now the five of us can handle her."

Mewtwo was about to nod but he stopped short and closed his eyes. "Something's wrong."

Zelda stood up. "Not again. Is it one of those guys? They must be following us."

"No. Someone's fallen."

Zelda's first thoughts went to Samus. "Oh no, Sam! She didn't return." She was heading back but Mewtwo stopped,

"The weak life force is coming from the front. In the conductor's room."

"The conductor?" Peach got up from her seat and went to the doors that lead to the conductor's room. She opened it and poked her head inside. "Oh!"

"Peach, what is it?" Zelda's tension and fear started to rise.

Peach brought her head out of the room. "The conductor is out cold!"

"No, how did he…" Zelda's ears heard the sound of a door open behind her. She turned around and saw Samus walk in. She was looking at her friends with no emotion on her face.

"Sam, the conductor is out cold. We need to get out of here!" Zelda exclaimed.

Samus crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I can't let you do that."

Peach and Mewtwo exchanged looks. Pichu was looking at Samus from her seat. "Sam? We need to get out of here." Peach said.

Samus kept the same stance and expression. "No. Everyone stay put." Her eyes flashed a red color and then went back to green.

Zelda tried to walk over to her best friend. "Samus, what are you…"

"Zelda, wait!"

"Huh?" She knew it was Mewtwo's voice and she stopped walking. She turned back around. "But she…"

"Samus isn't herself. There's a dark force surrounding her." Mewtwo said calmly.

Peach nodded. "That's not her."

Zelda looked at her bounty hunter friend. Samus had pressed the button on her suit and she now had on her Chozo suit. Her gun was charged and was aimed on whoever moved last and that was Zelda. "Samus, what are you doing? You're on our side."

"You would say that, but I'm not. I follow Garrett's orders now." Samus didn't let her gun drop.

"Garrett? But he…"

"I don't want to hear it, Zelda. This is who I am now. I'm over you smashers and Marth now. I don't need any of you guys anymore."

Zelda stepped back. The gun followed her till she was right next to Mewtwo. Her best friend was no longer with her. She was on Garrett's side, which was basically Veronica's. She wanted to just drop dead at this moment but she held her ground. "Samus please…" she pleaded.

"Shut-up! I don't have time for your stupid acts of persuasion. I made my decision. And now it's time for you to make yours. In a few minutes this train is going to speed up and go off the road killing your friends and you of course."

"And you?" Peach picked up the now scared Pichu. "You will die too."

"If I do, oh well. I'm like a soldier, Peach. I'll die for what I believe is right."

"You'll do that for Garrett?" Mewtwo asked in a quizzical manner.

"I will do anything for him. You have a choice here: you either give up and leave Veronica to be with Link and go home like you're supposed to or you can just die, taking your friends along with you."

"This is crazy. Samus, look at what you are doing." Zelda took a step forward. "This isn't how you want to be. Listen to me, please. Can't you recognize me? I'm your friend-"

Samus let out an angry cry and shot her charged shot right at Zelda. Zelda didn't move since she was filled with disbelief. But thankfully Mewtwo put up a big barrier to cover the four of them. Pichu clutched on to Peach hard almost in tears. Peach stroked her head to calm her down.

"THAT WAS NOT ONE OF THE CHOICES! MAKE ONE! I'M NOT SUPPPOSED TO KILL YOU BUT I WILL IF I HAVE TO!"

Zelda couldn't take it anymore. She started to crack. "Samus, what happened to you?" She said in a crying voice but she didn't shed a tear.

Peach looked at Samus and Zelda. This was horrible to watch. And she wasn't going to let her suffer anymore. Seeing that the barrier was still up, Peach took this time to grab Zelda and pull her towards the door. She opened the train door. They were high up above the mountains. She pushed Zelda towards the door.

"Peach! What are you doing! We can't leave Samus here! She needs our help!"

"Forget about, Samus. You need to find Link. I'll distract her. You're probabaly going to hate me for the rest of your life for doing this to you. But it's for your own good." Without warning, Peach pushed Zelda out the train door! She could hear Zelda already scream in fright but luckily Peach knew what she was doing. She flipped around towards Mewtwo. "Mewtwo, get her!"

Mewtwo looked at her for a second. "I know what you're going to do. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes! Just keep Zelda safe! Now go!"

Mewtwo nodded. "You're very brave." He teleported out of the train. He could spot Zelda from a distance while he was teleporting. She was screaming in fright still. Mewtwo appeared in front of her.

Zelda looked at him bug-eyed. "Mewtwo!"

Mewtwo held his arms out. "Grab onto me!"

Zelda didn't hesitate for a minute. She grabbed onto Mewtwo as tight as she could. Mewtwo used his levitation to stop the falling. He was floating with Zelda still latched onto him. She kept her eyes shut as he floated down to the ground. They landed by the trees surrounding the mountains. When Mewtwo stopped levitating, he looked at Zelda with her eyes still closed. "You can open your eyes now. It's safe."

Zelda opened her eyes. Indeed she was safe. But what about Peach and Samus? Peach just pushed her out of harm's way, sacrificing herself. And Samus, her now brainwashed friend. And Pichu, she was so young. She couldn't let her die like that. Zelda let go of Mewtwo. "Thanks for saving me. But I have to go back. My friends need me."

"No, you can't. Peach wanted you get out of there."

"That was stupid of her! I would be able to fight. We could have saved Samus together and now she's probably up there battling for her life with Samus as they head for their death." Zelda started to walk in a random direction. "I can't let them and I won't."

Mewtwo knew Zelda was going to be stubborn. But then Zelda was smart. _She may be right. _Mewtwo thought to himself. He floated after her. He heard rustling behind him. He flipped back around. Zelda turned too as she heard it. She looked over at the bushes where the rustling was. In a matter of seconds a familiar face came out of the bushes. Zelda knew who it was as soon as his face appeared. "Link!"

Link looked away from the bushes he was chopping to see Zelda running towards him. "Zel?" He held out his arms as she tried to enter them. She buried her face in his chest. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Oh, Link. It's horrible. I don't know what to do." Zelda said no more as she continued her muffled cries. Link wrapped his arms around her and then looked at Mewtwo giving him a look that said 'what the heck happened'. He pulled Zelda away from him. "It's okay, Zelda. I'm here now. Whatever happened, tell me as we head to the station. There's a path that leads up there so there's no need for climbing." Link lead the way and put an arm around Zelda as they walked together.

Mewtwo followed, but fell suspicious. _Something isn't right here._

**The Train**

It was a stare down between Peach and Samus. Peach was now in a fighting position and so was Pichu. Peach laughed. "You know, I'm surprised, Samus. I thought your tough bounty hunter nature would never allow you to be controlled so stupidly like this. To turn on me, Zelda, and the others like this? You must be really weak."

"Watch who you call weak, Princess." Samus had her gun loaded and ready. "You know you don't stand a chance, right?"

"That's what you say. In case you forgot, I'm a smasher too."

"So you are. You're not as tough as me and neither are you, you little rat!"

Pichu growled and sparks started surrounding her body. "PI…CHU!"

Samus laughed at Pichu. "Ooh. Aren't you the tough one?" she said sarcastically.

Peach glared at her. "Enough, Samus. I don't know what's gotten into you. But I'm going to handle you and get you back to normal."

"That's big talk for a wimpy fighter." Samus snapped back.

"Call it what you want. But this train is reaching its falling point as we speak." Peach readied herself. "So why don't we finish this up and see who leaves alive? I've been wanting to get some steam off about your fashion sense for a while anyway."

Samus smirked under her helmet. "Gladly."

**Top of the Mountain**

"Samus is brainwashed?" Link repeated. "Are you serious?"

Zelda nodded slowly. Her feet were starting to hurt from the long path leading up. But she could see the top where the train station would be. "I'm worried now that they both have died."

"Zel, you can't think like that. They'll be fine. They're strong girls."

"I know. I have more faith that they are alive than the other way around. But...the idea of my two best friends fighting brutally to their possible deaths." Zelda hurried her walk. "That's why we need to get there as soon as possible."

"Otherwise this was a gigantic waste of time." Mewtwo added.

"Right past these trees is the station. We're already here."Link went through the trees quickly. "Come on."

Zelda was about to follow, but Mewtwo placed a hand on her shoulder. "Isn't this a tad bit suspicious to you? To see Link here out of the blue is strange."

"No. This is Link, not Veronica. Don't be silly, Mewtwo. Link would never lie to me. Thanks again for helping me, but don't doubt him now. He doesn't have the same dark energy like Samus, does he?"

"No. His seems pure and good. But still I think…"

"That's just it Mewtwo. He isn't brainwashed like Samus. This really is him." Zelda went through the trees after Link. Mewtwo sighed and followed after her. Zelda had to pass many trees. "Link, where are you?"

"Just a little further, Zel! I can see you. Keep going straight." He called.

Zelda did what she was commanded and soon she could see Link. When she was close enough, Link held out his hand and she grabbed onto it. Link helped pulled her out of the trees. "Here we are."

Zelda looked around. But something was wrong. Zelda didn't see a train. She didn't even see a train station or train track. There was nothing out there but more mountains. The cliff was a long drop back to where they started. There was a waterfall in view and she couldn't see a single house or anything. It was just more of the mountain forest.

"Link, where's the-"

Zelda heard a hard metal clunk to the head. She turned around. Mewtwo was on the ground lying on his stomach. He had a purple bruise forming on the back of his head and there was a little bit of blood trickling from the wound.

Link was as shocked as Zelda. "What happened?"

Zelda was about to reply, but then she heard rustling in the trees just like before. Another person emerged from the bushes but this time this was a face she did not want to see. Veronica came out of the bushes with a weapon in hand. It was a metal shovel. Zelda knew Veronica hit Mewtwo with it because there was a bit of blood on it.

"Veronica." Zelda said quietly.

"Hello, Princess. Long time no see. How have you been doing?" Veronica smirked. "I mean between the kidnapping, your friend turning on you, your best friends traveling to their deaths, and now this?"

Zelda grew angry. "Veronica…" She walked dangerously over to her. She was tired of Veronica hurting her friends and ruining her life. She raised her hand when she was close enough to hit her. "You're going to pay!" Zelda tried to hit her but just as it reached her face, Veronica didn't move and neither did Zelda's hand. She looked back and wished she didn't look back at all. Link was holding her hand back and preventing her from hitting Veronica. "I can't let you hurt my one true love."

Veronica smiled. "Thank you, Link." She said evilly. Zelda looked back at Veronica. She couldn't form any words on how she felt. But she didn't have the time to because Link roughly threw her back. Zelda felt her leg hit something and sharp and it sparked with pain, but she held her balance. She just looked at Link. She was shaking her head not believing this was happening. "Link… you can't be doing this to me."

"Sorry, but I am." He responded. "You've been a nuisance long enough."

"Yes." Zelda looked at Veronica slowly walking over to her. "And with her friends dead and out of the way, we can get rid of this nuisance together." She sneered. She kissed Link on the cheek. "Girlfriend and Boyfriend style."

**To be continued…**

**I have nothing to say. That chapter was way too long but I'm trying to shorten the amount of chapters. Review Please!**


	19. Unhappy Birthday Part II

**Nothing to say except…this will be one heck of a chapter. Sorry if fanfiction makes any spelling errors.**

**Chapter 19 **

**Unhappy Birthday Part II **

**Joypadana Train Station **

**(This next part is during the time Zelda was climbing up the mountain.)**

Marth slowly pushed his hand against the top of his arm. He felt pain come shooting up through his arms as he touched it ever so lightly. It wasn't broken but it was bruised. He looked at Roy who was busy staring at the trains passing by the small station. The area was isolated and very quiet. Marth could only hear the shuffling of Roy's boots across the pavement. They had been sitting there for almost an hour and no one had shown up yet.

"And I thought we were late." Marth looked at the communicator's clock. "Where are they? You think they left without us?" He didn't wait for a response. "They better not have. I could have done without that stop where Link was." He muttered a negative comment in his native language under his breath.

"You know I understood that don't you?" Roy asked without turning around. "Man, you have a foul mouth."

"Sorry. I mean Peach told us to be here and she's not even here. You think her of all people would be on time." He started to tap his fingers on his sheath. Sleep was taking over and he knew why. Too much thinking, not enough sleep. He needed a very long rest. _Since I'm not doing anything._ He closed his eyes and he instantly started to go in the direction of deep sleep. But before he could reach it…

"Here comes another train. This one's coming to a stop." Roy didn't move as the train started to slow down. The gust from the train blew some of Roy's red bangs in the direction the wind was heading . When it came to a full stop in front of him, he noticed the train's appearance. There were some large dents busting out instead of in. Smoke and little sparks were coming out from the front and back of the train. Train parts were breaking off and a loud squeaking noise was being made by a piece hanging off the train waiting to fall off or be taken off easily. The white and blue train had some black stain like spots on it. After staring at its weird features, Roy heard a loud spluttering. The train sputtered its last loud noise and then its wheels gave out and the train tilted to the side.

Marth was up when he heard the loud noise. "What the heck happened?"

Roy opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped when he saw the train door slowly open. Either his eyes were playing tricks on him or a bunch of dust and/or smoke came pouring out the door. Marth stood at a distance a little bit disturbed by this. Roy on the other hand, walked in front of the train door and peered through the smoke. "Anyone in there?" There was no answer, but he did hear some small footsteps coming slowly to the door.

A figure came into view but he could not see the face clearly. But as the figure came into view, he could make out a female. He could see familiar blonde hair and big blue eyes. Peach came through the smoke and rested a hand on the door. In her other hand was Pichu who was clutched closed to her hip. The young pokemon looked unconscious. Peach didn't look any better. Her hair was all messed and her make-up had a few smudges. Her dress was dust covered and was torn around the hems. Her crown was at a tilt but still was on her head.

Roy couldn't believe his eyes. "Peach…" he said in almost a whisper.

Peach heard his voice and slowly opened her eyes. She looked up and saw Roy looking at her with a worried look on his face. Her breathing started to get quieter. "Roy?" she said in a weak voice.

Roy took a small step towards her. "Peach, what happened? Are you okay?"

Peach pushed herself up and took her hand off the side of the door. She placed both of her arms around Pichu in a different position. Her eyes were slowly closing but she kept her balance and stepped out of the train. A small smile formed on her face. "Roy…I'm so happy to see you."

"What?"

"Everyone's help." She stopped right in front of him. "Please… the girls… the boiler room." Peach couldn't hold her balance any longer. She lost all feeling and fell forward. Roy caught Peach in his arms. She started to fall on her knees so Roy kneeled on one knee while letting her rest in his arms. Pichu was still tucked safe between her arms. He could hear Peach soundly breathing on his chest.

Marth was crouching down looking at both of them. "So… what just happened?"

"Don't know." He moved Peach so she could rest her back against his leg while still holding her head securely in his right arm. "She wasn't making any sense. She said she was glad to see me, and then she said she needs everyone's help and then she mentioned the girls. What could she have meant?"

"Do you think she meant Samus and Zelda? Those are the only girls I can think she would be talking about."

"That's what I was thinking. You don't think… something happened to them do you?"

Marth shuddered at that thought. He started to imagine horrible things in his mind. All of them involved Samus. He shook his head. "No… I don't think so."

"You sure?"

"Well…" He looked at Roy's face. He knew the truth already and he just wanted the right answer from Marth. "No, I don't. Something must have happened." Marth took Pichu away from Peach's arms and placed her in his. "Could they be on the train?"

"That's a definite maybe." Roy scooped Peach up in his arms. He looked at her sleeping form. "We should try and wake her up to get some answers." He walked back over to the bench Marth was sitting on. He gently placed Peach on it. He let her arms lay on her chest.

"Stay with her, Roy. I'm going to check the train for Samus and Zelda. Alert me if she wakes or if there's any danger."

"Okay. Be sure to check your surroundings Marth. There may be some enemy on the train still. So, you tell me if you see anybody."

"Gotcha." Marth placed Pichu onto the bench at Peach's feet. He walked back over to the train and looked at the entrance. The inside didn't look too pretty. The train seats were pretty banged up and some had broken off of the stands. There were some loose electrical wires that continued to spark repeatedly. Marth jumped at the crackling noise. _I thought they said they knew what they were doing. Okay…Peach said that, but Samus was there so she should have been able to watch out for the two of them. Zelda usually is defenseless since she's new to this. And then that guy, Garrett or whatever. Shouldn't Samus's little protector have been protecting them and her especially? He's not here and neither is Sam or Zelda. Makes me all the more suspect him. He's as bad as Link. _Marth mentally slapped himself in the face. _Don't be stupid, Marth. You hardly know the guy. And from what Samus says, he's sort of like me. And I'm not a bad guy. At least that's what everyone tells me anyway. Or maybe they were just toying with me. Getting off thought again. I wonder if Sam fell in love with that guy and ran away with him and killed Zelda and blasted Peach with her gun and that's why she's like this… there goes another bad thought._

Marth thoughts were interrupted when he tripped over a fallen chair. Luckily he kept his grace on one foot and didn't fall over. Without any more negative thoughts, he continued to look around. But he couldn't help but have one more thought. He remembered what Peach's last words were. "Yes," he said to himself. "She said the boiler room." Marth remembered passing that room when they were looking for a seat on the way over to Joypadana. And if he remembered correctly, he believed it was towards the back. No other thoughts about it, he ran towards the back of the room. He thought he ran through about 5 train cars before he reached the room. The door was barely open so he pushed it to get a better look. There wasn't a soul in the room except for the sound of the heat hissing in the room. Marth could feel bits of sweat forming on his face from the increasing heat. Something in the far back part of the room caught his eye. He thought he recognized it and when he walked inside the room, he was sure he knew what it was. On the floor were Samus's transformation watch and her orange communicator sitting in a large pile of liquid. And Samus wasn't attached to those things. Marth wiped the sweat from his face and bent over to pick up the items. He guessed that the room temperature made the two devices burn up in high temperature.

"Well, that's one clue." He placed the two items in his pocket and hurried out of the volcano like room. "But where are Samus and Zelda? I don't even see Zelda's communicator."

"HEY MARTH!" Roy called from far away. "YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE! IT'S URGENT!"

Marth didn't have to be told twice. He started to run back.

Roy looked down at Peach. Her breathing had become louder again and she was doing the oddest thing. She was giggling. She was clutching her sides and rolling back and forth. She kicked her foot out hitting Pichu hard on the head.

Pichu woke up instantly and rubbed her head. "Pichu…"

Roy took his eyes off Peach to look at the pokemon. "Well, Pichu looks okay."

Marth was out the door and back at Roy's side. "What's the problem?"

"To be perfectly honest, I couldn't tell you." Roy moved aside. "She just started giggling like a mad woman."

Marth watched the insanity. "She could be dreaming about something funny."

"For that long? I don't think so. It's worse than that. Hey, you see that at the shoulder of her dress?" Roy asked at he looked at his new discovery.

Marth bent over. He saw something moving on her puffy sleeve. "I can see it now. What is it? Looks like a…" Marth watch the reptile move from her shoulder towards the back. It appeared from the back of her dress and slither up towards her neck. "A snake?"

"Are you serious?" Roy knew what it was. He just didn't want to believe it. They both just froze as they watched it get comfortable around her neck. "What do we do?"

Marth could only think of one thing. He pulled out his sword. "Only one way."

"You're not going to try to kill it with it just sitting by her neck are you? You might miss and slash Peach's neck."

"I'm not stupid, Roy." Marth reversed the sword to the hilt end. "I'm using this side." Marth readied his sword. It was directly above the snake. "Okay. 1…2…"

Marth brought the sword down but a hand quickly caught the sword and snatched it away. Marth looked to see it was the now awake Peach who stopped the attack. She sat up and the snake fell off her. "What do you think you're doing?" Peach clocked Marth on the head and then followed by hitting Roy since he was in reach.

"Ow!" Marth replied. "Peach!"

"Yeah! What was that for?" Roy said after him.

"You were going to hurt that poor defenseless animal weren't you? She could have got hurt!" Peach said angrily.

"It almost hurt you!" Roy shouted back.

"It's a gopher snake. And it happens to be my friend!" Peach recognized the snake when she looked at it. The snake fell to the ground and slithered to the nearest hedge of grass. "What did she ever do to you?"

Roy looked at her disgustedly. "This is the thanks we get for helping you out." _She must not remember what happened or what she said._ Frustrated, Roy got up and left in a huff. "Excuse me."

Peach watched him walk away. Marth decided to take defensive maneuvers. "Lighten up .Peach. Roy helped you get out of that train and he was very worried about you."

"He was?" Peach watched Marth nod and then turn away to look at Roy staring out at nothing on the other side of the outside train station. Peach started to feel the guilt trip coming along. _He saved me? How come I don't remember? But how sweet of him. And I yelled at him. There I go, not thinking before acting. No wonder he hates me._ She sighed and got up. "Roy… look."

"Hey, something is in the bushes." Roy said while he was peering at the landscape. He thought he saw an arm. "More like a someone."

Pichu hopped over to Roy and looked at the bushes. She ran past Roy to do some inspecting on her own. Roy tried to call her back but it was too late. The man behind the bushes popped out and grabbed the young pokemon by the neck.

"PICHU!" Pichu yelped as it was grabbed around the neck.

"Got ya. Ya little rodent!" the man said proudly.

"Hey!" Peach exclaimed. "That's Ace!"

"Who?" Marth asked.

Roy unsheathed his sword. "Drop Pichu now!"

Ace grinned evilly and gently pulled the little pokemon's neck back a little making a tiny yelp come from Pichu. Peach gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth and Marth unsheathed his sword. Ace shook his head. "I don't think I will. Unless blondie over there comes quietly and tells me where her little friend Samus is."

"Samus? Uh…" For some reason Peach was having a hard time remembering anything from before. "I don't know where she is!" She saw him reaching for Pichu's neck again. "But Pichu has nothing to do with this. Put her down please!"

"Or else." Marth said while keeping his eyes on the enemy.

"Or else what?"

Roy got in the ready position. "We'll attack!"

Ace laughed. "Please. You wouldn't dare attack with this little rat in my clutches. Now where is it?"

"'It'?" Marth asked. "What's _it_?"

Ace knew he had messed up. "Um…well…uh…that's of no importance. Now hand over Peach or the pokemon will… AAH!"

Pichu let off a large thunderbolt. It surged through Ace's body like a light bulb. He let go of Pichu and fell to his side in pain. Pichu scampered back over to the safety of Peach. Peach held her arms out as Pichu leaped into them. She rubbed the young pokemon's neck. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" Pichu shook her head and stuck her tongue at Ace who was now glaring at them.

"You little brats. When Garrett finds out about this."

"Garrett?" Peach started to remember a little bit of what happened earlier. "I remember now. Samus was possessed. She said she only followed Garrett's orders. And she tried to kill me, Zelda, and Pichu."

"What?" Roy said in shock.

"I'm not kidding. Brainwashed, hypnotism, or whatever you feel like calling it. Yes. That man…" Peach pointed at Ace. "The rest of his goony friends and Garrett did something to Samus to make her obey Garrett's orders. But I locked her in the boiler room."

Marth grew angry. "Samus wasn't on the train. Only her transformation watch and communicator were in there." He saw Ace try to get up but Marth drove his sword right under Ace's throat in anger. "So, where is she?" Marth said in a very short-tempered voice.

"I-I don't know! Th-that's why I came after you four." Ace tried to move away, but Marth moved his sword even closer to his neck practically touching it. Ace froze. "Just let me go."

Roy crossed his arms with his sword still in his hand. "Fat chance. You need to tell us where our friends are right now."

"O-Okay." Ace trembled. "Samus is back at the mansion. I swear it."

Peach was confused. _Samus and I were fighting on the train. I know that for a fact. So, how is she back at the mansion?_

"And Zelda?" Roy asked.

"I don't know." Ace said in a tiny voice.

"And you said Samus and then you started referring to her as an 'it'. What did that mean?" Marth asked the frightened man next.

"I-I can't say!" Ace panicked.

"Marth, he's not going to say a word." Peach was fiddling in her pockets and had a perfume in her hand. "Just let him go. This guy is the weakest of the five. Just a bartender."

Marth held the sword up towards Ace's neck for about 5 more seconds before lowering it. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Fine." He lowered his sword. "Let's go find them."

"Where's the mansion anyway?" Roy asked as he followed Marth's fast pace.

Peach stood there for a second to regain some more memories. "Uh… let's see. Pichu, do you remember?" Pichu looked up at Peach and shrugged. "I know it was something we rode."

"It sure was." A voice said. And it didn't belong to Marth or Roy. Roy flipped around. "Peach look out!"

Peach turned and saw Ace was up with his gun out. "Don't move."

Peach was too scared to listen. She did the only thing she could do. She lifted up her item in her hand. "Take this!" She sprayed the perfume right in Ace's face. She didn't wait for the reaction as she ran over to Roy's side and Pichu stayed right on her tail. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Get him! Get him! Get him!" she said as if she wanted him to kill a spider.

Marth was looking over at Ace. "I think you did."

Ace had fallen straight back when Peach had sprayed him and he was not moving. His eyes were closed and Roy couldn't hear any breathing. He eyed Peach. "Are you some kind of witch? What'd you do to him?"

"Nothing. Just sprayed him with this perfume." She held the bottle up to Roy's face.

"Hey! Watch where you're aiming that thing." He pushed the bottle away. "I don't want to die."

Marth kneeled down and looked at Ace. "He's not dead. Just unconscious. Let's get out of here and find Samus and Zelda before something else happens." He walked back over to the group.

"We still have to find out how to get up there."

"I think it's…a chairlift. That's what Samus said anyway." Peach caught up with her friends. "I remember walking this way to get there. But I think it was worth some tickets."

"What? After all those train rides I'm broke." Marth declared. "What about you, Roy?"

"I didn't have anything from the start. So, how are we going to get up there?"

"Pichu pi!"

The three smashers looked down at the squealing Pichu. Peach crouched down next to Pichu when she spotted something odd. "What's this in your mouth?" Pichu let Peach pull it away from her teeth. It was a card tied to a string. "It says, "Lift pass?" Oh! A pass for the lift. This must have been around Ace's neck. " She scratched Pichu behind the ears. "Good work."

"I see a chairlift down there. So, we better not miss our ride." Roy took off for the lift with the other three behind him. They soon were going to find one of their friends.

**Lab Room**

"Come…on… please…just a little more…" Samus pushed her legs against the burning candle on the table. Her legs were burning but she was cutting the rope bit by bit. But it was going way too slow. She had been at this for about 5 minutes now. And she was halfway finished burning the rope up. She needed to finish before Garrett came back. Even though her hands were still bounded to the chair she could move better with her legs. She could see brown burns forming on her legs but she didn't care.

"How could I be so stupid?" It happened so quickly. After she, Zelda, and Peach made it on the train, she went off to find a map like she said she would. But as soon as she got a hold of one in a lonely corridor, she felt a swift hit against her neck and she blacked out again. Next thing she knew, here she was back at the mansion, in the computer lab she had found earlier, tied to a chair thanks to the "oh-so-lovely" brother of Veronica, Garrett. She didn't know how she got back here, but she knew that Zelda and Peach were definitely in danger and she needed to find them as soon as possible.

The rope was starting to cut. Samus didn't wait any longer. She removed her legs from the burning candle and started to spread them apart to break the rope. The rope started to silently rip and Samus was successfully winning, but she was leaning too far back on her chair. When the door flew open, it scared Samus to death. She ripped the rope and got her legs free, but she fell on her back from leaning back in her chair.

She didn't even want to look. "Leave me alone and go away." She said in an angry tone.

Garrett just frowned and walked into the lab. His captive was still in the same spot but she was on the floor now. "You aren't getting out of here you know?"

"I am." Samus said quietly. "Or someone will come back and get me."

"And that person would be who? For all your friends know, they think you're some chaotic killer. You're not one they would like to save right now." He decided to lift Samus's chair upright on it's legs. He heard her mutter thank-you under her breath. "Lose the attitude, because you're going to be here for a long time.

"To tell you the truth, I think that you should prepare for their arrival. They're not going to leave me like this." Garrett didn't respond. He just turned around and walked over to the computer. He started to work on some program. Samus saw some unreadable codes on the screen and a few pictures of something familiar. She couldn't help but ask. "What are you doing?"

Garrett didn't turn from the computer. "Something that will silence you for good." He typed a few things in and then he looked back over to Samus. He pulled something out of his pocket. He held the device in plain sight. "You remember this little gadget don't you?"

Samus looked at it. "It's a mind controlling device." She rolled her eyes. "But it's not going to work. It'll just break like the other ones you had. So it'll be a waste to put it on me." She heard Garrett start to laugh. She didn't see anything funny. "What are you laughing about?"

"My dear Samus. You think I didn't know that already? Of course it will break. But with the new program I found, there's going to be few changes. Sam, I really just wish you would just love and obey me, so I wouldn't have to do this."

Samus turned her head away from him.

"I figured this much. You still have Marth on the brain." Garrett tossed the device in his hand.

Samus just gave him the cold shoulder.

Garrett started talking to her at the back of her head. "The thing different about this device is, I'm going to be able to give it an upgrade. This won't be any original mind control device. This one's power will increase to make it last forever."

"I'll find some way to get it off or someone will get it off me. They're not indestructible."

"Au contraire dear Sammie. This one's going to be a little different. When I place this one on you it doesn't stick to your body like the other ones. It gets absorbed into it."

Samus turned around at that. "That can't…"

"It's already been tested on those lab animals. You know, the rabbits you girls found in the freezer."

Samus looked at him crazy. "But those ones are dead."

"Yeah, you're right. The project does seem to have a few bugs in it. Maybe I should put it on your boyfriend instead."

"Don't you dare drag him into this!" She said in a threatening tone. "If you want to torture anyone, it can only be me. He hasn't done a single thing to you…yet." She muttered the last part.

"Of course. I respect that."

"I don't think you know a thing about respect."

Garrett ignored her comment. "Anyway… this one works better than the one on the rabbits. This one will work. You'll be a permanent slave to me."

Samus couldn't take her eyes off him._ He's lying. He couldn't have made something like that. He can't do it. _

"Oh look, you're trembling. Are you cold?" Garrett teased.

"I'm not trembling." She said in a shaky voice.

Garrett cupped her chin in his hands. "Those lovely green eyes of yours are expressing your fear again, my all time favorite emotion of you. Samus Aran, there's nothing you can do. Your friend Zelda is soon to be dead along with everyone else." He used one finger to stroke her cheek. "You're going to be mine and neither your friends nor Marth won't be able to do a thing this time."

Samus looked at the once purple eyes she trusted. They were no longer eyes of trust. They were now the same evil eyes his sister had. And she had never been more scared of them till now.

**Mountain Top**

Zelda stood still, not feeling the pain riding in her shoulders. She just stared at Link and Veronica. Link had an arm around her and was giving Zelda the most hurtful look she had ever seen. She didn't know what to say or do. All she could do was think about what was going to happen in the future. There was nothing to say and there was nothing she wanted to say to him.

Veronica on the other hand, had much to say. "Well, Zelda. All I can say is… it's over. You lost. There isn't a single thing you can do." Veronica flipped her black hair. "Link, why don't you go take a walk for a minute. I'll call you when I need you."

"I don't think I should leave you alone with _her._" Link glared at Zelda. "She may try to pull something and then I might lose you."

Zelda would have rolled her eyes at the mushy love moment, but she was upset to do anything. She just grabbed her elbow with her right hand and put her head down, begging to the goddesses for this to be all a dream.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it at all. She won't do a single thing." Veronica pushed him away.

Link hesitated, but he listened and left her right away. He didn't make eye contact with Zelda as he walked past her. Zelda watched him leave through the way they came.

"So, you and me should have a talk now." Veronica had her shovel in her hand again. She walked up to Zelda. "Why don't you take a seat?"

Veronica caught Zelda off guard and swung the shovel right at her right ankle. It was a direct blow and the pain made Zelda react quickly. She collapsed on all fours, but then she fell back on her legs. It made her wonder if Veronica hacked her leg off. She checked it and saw it was fine but now had a large bruise on it and her green stockings were ripped from the sharp shovel.

"I just want you to be comfortable for the talk."

"And that talk would be about what I wonder?" Zelda said calmly.

"Wel,l first off, I'm glad you've finally learned your place. You now know when you're defeated. I thought the fight would be enough, but I guess you and your friends had to go deeper. And to think that it all started with a little visit from me. You know when I first got to the mansion, I liked you, Princess. I was excited to see you."

"So ,I heard. I mean, since you leave your diary out in the open." Zelda turned from Veronica and tended to her leg.

"You did read my diary, huh? Yes, my brother Garrett told me all about it. But he got rid of all that evidence and now you're like an empty well with no water."

Zelda applied pressure to her leg seeing if it helped. She didn't take her eyes off her enemy. "I'm surprised you would try and kill your idol."

Veronica threw the shovel to the ground. "I think you read my diary when I said you **used** to be my idol. I found out you were just a boyfriend stealer like Katy."

"Katy didn't even steal your boyfriend because that boy Curtis wasn't even yours. And Link wasn't yours either. That was no reason to kill her."

"She deserved it. She had been ruining my life for years. I couldn't let her keep destroying my dreams all my life and you're not going to either. You can go the same way as Katy and this time you won't be coming back. Ever since the start of my crimes you've been escaping everything." Veronica crossed her arms. "After I threatened you, I thought you would give in since you're such a weak girl. But you kept on cuddling with Link. Then I decided to shred the terrible green dress you're wearing which seems you were able to put back together." Veronica looked at Zelda's green dress. "But that didn't work either. So, I embarrassed you in front of your friends so Link would come to my aid and make you think you didn't stand a chance with him but apparently that wasn't enough. As for Samus, she was just getting in the way, so why not kill off the extra baggage?"

"She didn't even do anything to you."

"Didn't care. I just didn't like her attitude. Now stop interrupting. I stopped for a while to see if my plans worked but you got Link under your wing on that plane. So that's where the fire kicked in. But you just had to live, didn't you? Oh yes. And don't think I didn't know it was you who used that blasted magic of yours to knock me into the pool. Who else could it be since everyone thinks I'm so great? And then finally I was the one who got you in trouble with Master Hand when I pulled the fire alarm and all the alarms went off." Veronica smirked. "Brilliant, aren't I?"

"You didn't even mention all the other things you did. Like the breaking up with my friends and making Link turn on me."

"Well, I figured that you would know that I did all of those things. Or are you really that dumb of a blonde?"

"I just want to know why you have to kill all your enemies?" Zelda placed her hands on the ground. "There are other ways to handle conflicts."

"You're right. That's exactly what my psychiatrist said. He said I needed to use the triple A's. Analyze, Assess, and Act. And I did. I analyzed the situation, assessed that the problem was you, and now I'm acting, by ending your life today."

"Whatever." Zelda said angrily. She pushed herself up to stand and she was able to get on one knee. "You think you have everything together don't you?"

"I do actually. It's all together."

"Of course it is. You have to use devices to make people do what you say. And you had to put one on Link because he couldn't love you."

"Oh, you'll be surprised." She looked in the bushes. "Link, come here."

To Zelda's surprise, Link had been sitting in the bushes the whole time. "Yes, Veronica?"

"Could you turn your back to Zelda for a minute? I want to show her something."

Link turned his back to Zelda. "Now what?"

"Now lift your hair up from your neck." Veronica said shortly after. As Link lifted it, Veronica smiled seeing there was no device there. "You see. He's brainwash free. The device works from the back of the head and it's not there."

Zelda saw no device. She didn't know how, but Veronica was telling the truth. That's why she couldn't sense the same dark emotions Samus had while she saw her under Garrett's control. Link had nothing on him. This was just plain love. _So, Link. You're no longer the same. You fell in love with her. That's all I need to know._

"Told you, Princess. He's mine now. He's finally realized."

"I've been knowing that she was special to me when we first met." Link looked at Zelda with his sincere aquamarine eyes. "You were okay for a while, but Veronica needs me unlike you, Zelda. I would like it if we were still friends though. You're still one of the best ones I had. I don't want to kill her, Veronica."

"But Link… she's in the way."

"Please, she's my friend still. And I couldn't bear it if I killed her. It would haunt me because this is a girl I've been protecting all my life."

Zelda didn't care about all the other stuff Link was saying. "Veronica is really that important to you, Link?" Zelda asked slowly with her head lowered.

"Without her I have no reason for living." He didn't regret any of his words.

Zelda's eyes grew at that comment but then returned to normal. She was on the verge of sickness when these words came out of Link's mouth. "Is that really how you feel?"

"Yes… it is. She means a lot to me." Link said quietly. Veronica didn't say anything. She just stared at her and waited.

Zelda knew it was coming. She didn't know why it didn't happen earlier. Her tears started to fall down her face. _Why? Why doesn't he love me? He's never been strong feeling towards me like he was to Veronica. She was right again._ "You want to be with her, don't you?"

Link nodded. "More than anything. She's my world, Zelda."

"I see."

_This has to be Link. He's talking the way he's been talking to me ever since we met. He's too kind in his voice and he still cares for me. But his heart for me is only for being friends._ Zelda felt something happening to her. Her heart was telling her to do something she never imagined she would do. Her body started to quake and from that moment, Zelda felt she had no control over her body.

"Well…fine. We won't have to kill her Link." Veronica said, after thinking long and hard. "But she will have to leave now."

"That won't be necessary."

Veronica heard a low voice. Before she could turn she heard Link call out. "Look out, Veronica!"

She didn't have time. A dagger flew by her face. It didn't strike her hard but it did manage to cut her cheek. Blood started to trickle down her cheek. She grabbed in pain. "Ah!Grrr... Zelda, when will you…" Veronica's eyes widened.

Zelda was no longer there. In her place was a person in a Sheikan outfit. There were bandages wrapped around her face and all that could be seen on her face, were her sharp, crimson red eyes. She had turned into her alter ego Sheik. She was standing in a fighting position. Five daggers were in position in her hand. She had no emotion going on with her face. She was no longer angry or sad. She just had one thing on her mind. She wanted to set things straight. Her ruby eyes kept their gaze on both Veronica and Link.

"The next one won't miss." Sheik said in her low voice. "I'll make sure of it."

Veronica made a type of growling sound. "What do you think you're doing? You were going to hurt Link, you know."

Sheik didn't say a word at first. "Don't care. For my friends, and everything you did to them, I'm going to start with you first, Veronica."

Veronica started to get intimidated. She had heard of Zelda's alter ego form and she had seen it in action on TV. She thought of Sheik as heartless with a thirst for battle, something Princess Zelda never wished for. That's exactly how she was now. And she couldn't be even more scared than she was now. But she wouldn't let Sheik see it. "Why is that?"

"I need to make sure everything happens the way I plan it. I'm going to kill you first. And then I don't think it's important to tell you about what happens after that. So… PREPARE YOURSELF!" Sheik didn't waste anytime. She charged right at Veronica with a battle cry. "DEATH WILL GRASP YOU SOON."

Veronica didn't have her shovel in her hand. But Link got in front of her and pulled out his sword. "Zelda, stop! I won't let you hurt her!"

"You don't have an option!" Sheik quickly pulled out her chain. Before Link could even move she shot out the chain and it wrapped around Link's legs tightly. She tugged making Link fall to the ground.

"Link!" Veronica cried. She was going to drop to his side but Sheik rushed right in front of her.

"Zelda, stop!"

Sheik laughed evilly. "Don't you see Veronica? Zelda is no longer here." She smirked under her bandages. "This is what it looks like when you're about to meet your murderer. It's been fun, Veronica. But now, I'm the one who will have the last word this time." She raised her dagger. "Sayonara!"

Veronica watched the dagger come down and she ducked. When she raised her head she saw the shovel in view. She scrambled her way over to the shovel. She was able to grab it. Sheik was right behind her. "I have you now!" Veronica swung the shovel hard right on Sheik's face. Sheik stumbled back and fell on one knee. She grabbed her face.

Veronica glared at her. "Don't mess with me. You're still weak."

Sheik removed her hand from her face. There was blood on her forehead dripping. She wiped it off and looked at it. "Nothing but a flesh wound." She dropped her hand. "You'll have to do better than that." She looked back to see Link still struggling to get the chain off. But it was way too tight and Sheik still was holding the other end of it. Veronica charged at her with the shovel but this time Sheik grabbed and snatched it away. And to top it off, before Veronica could react, she swung the shovel ten times harder than Veronica and hit her on the back of her head as she was bending over. She instantly blacked out.

"Veronica!" Link called.

Sheik knew Veronica wouldn't answer. As she stared down at the body she saw something intriguing. There was a cliff and it looked like it would be a long drop. "Perfect." She said in almost a whisper. Without a second thought, Sheik grabbed Veronica's feet and dragged her over to the cliff. It was done easily with Sheik's strength. She was able to do it in under a minute. She looked down below as she pulled Veronica so close to the edge that her long, black hair was hanging off the cliff. The drop was perfect. It was an instant death.

"ZELDA, PLEASE STOP! I KNOW YOU'RE STILL IN THERE! STOP IT!" Link shouted. Link got up and was able to run this time but Sheik pulled the chain tighter and not only did Link fall forward but he slammed his head against a large rock, knocking himself out.

"I told you Zelda is no longer here." Sheik said. "Now say good-bye to your little girlfriend." With one swift kick Veronica went over the cliff plunging to her doom. Sheik watched Veronica fall down…down…down…till she couldn't be seen. She sighed. "It's done." She turned back to Link.

Sheik looked at Link. He was still on his back lying down unconscious. In a second, she changed back to Zelda. She realized what she did, but this was what had to be done. And the worse part was not even completed yet. She slowly walked over to Link since her foot was still in pain. Her normal blue eyes looked to Link. She didn't care. She just didn't care at all. Soon it all wouldn't matter. She dropped down next to him and looked at him. "Link… you were my best friend, you treated me like family, and most importantly, you were my first and only love." She brushed his blonde locks out of his face. "I know more than anything that you want to be with Veronica and I want to be with you, Link, no matter where you go."

"But I had to kill Veronica. She had caused enough damage to this world. But I'm willing to give you one gift, Link. But only one gift. My last gift to you." Zelda picked up her dagger she had dropped when attacking Veronica. " I know something that will make you happy." Zelda placed the dagger steadily in her hand. "I'll do it so neither of us can be upset again." She placed her hand on Link's shoulder and her other arm with the dagger over where Link's heart was. "I'll kill you… and then… I'll kill myself. That way we'll all be happy." She said slowly. A smile crept on her face. "You'll have Veronica, and I'll have you, Link. We'll all meet up in heaven. I hope so anyway. Just as long as we're together I don't care where we meet." She readied her dagger. "I'm doing this for you, Link. I want you to never be sad again. I love you and I'll never give you a time to be upset." She broke out in more tears. "E-Even if it means sacrifices. But it no longer matters. We'll all meet. Samus will be there and so will Peach. And maybe others. Mother… I will see her again."

She looked at Link. "And your parents, Link. You haven't seen them since you were a baby. It will be good for you to see them again. See…" Her voice started to tremble. "Everything works out." Zelda wiped her tears away and held one of Link's hands. "Don't be afraid. I'll be there with you." She was finally ready. "Good-Bye, Link." She said in a whisper as she brought down the dagger.

* * *

"Hey, let's hurry up and get this stuff back to our room. Have we got a surprise for that girl's birthday party." Bowser said in a happy tone.

Ganondorf nodded. "We better hurry up. The par…" He stopped short. He turned around in a random direction. He felt a power surging at his right hand. He looked at it and saw his triforce glowing. Din was shining brightly! Ganondorf stared at it very confused. "What the…."

"Hey, let's hurry, Ganon." Bowser called.

He looked up at the giant lizard. "Um… yeah." Ganondorf looked at his hand again. It stopped glowing and returned to normal. He shrugged it off, unsure of its meaning. He started to follow Bowser. "I'm coming."

* * *

Young Link opened his eyes and gasped. "What's happening?"

Pikachu looked at Young Link. "What's wrong?"

Young Link looked down at the pokemon. "I don't know." Young Link looked up in the sky. _Link…I don't like this. I can't feel your presence anymore. What's happening to you?_

* * *

Zelda burst into tears as she looked away. The feeling was bad enough, looking at her friend was making her sick. She looked at her tri-force. Nayru was glowing in and out. Zelda looked at Link's hand. Farore was fading away. The glow was becoming black and eerie. She dropped his hand and looked at the other hand with the dagger in it. It was now a bloody dagger. She wasn't done yet. She needed to get out of this life. But then all her friends came to mind.

Marth... Roy...Peach...Samus... and everyone else she knew and cared about delayed her. But she shook her head. "No… I have to. I did something unspeakable. Goddesses, I'm sorry for what I did." She gathered her composure and readied the dagger to her own heart. "But I'm going to make up for it. I can't live without him and he couldn't live without Veronica. Everybody wins this way."

Zelda looked at the dagger. "Everybody gets their wish." She closed her eyes with the dagger in place. "My friends." She let her last tears fall. " I'm sorry…" She brought the dagger down.

**A/N: Sorry for all these shockers all chapter. Hope it wasn't too bad. Review Please and I'll update fast and not leave you hanging. Something good may happen.**


	20. Tragedies Never Die

_**(ENTER Pichu with a piece of paper in hand)**_

**Pichu: Greetings Readers. I am Pichu and I will be reading the author's note today. Royal Kenya could not make it because she has the flu and because she is sulking since she's been officially working on this story for over a year now and she's very angry and sad. And she's one person not to mess with when she's angry and sad at the same time. Total Rampage. So she told me she would need some time to pull herself together. She had some things she wanted to say. For one thing, she says she was very excited when she reached over 200 reviews. RK says you guys are the world's greatest and she thanks you. Anyway through her sulking she was able to write a chapter for you as a little gift to you from her. So here you go!**

**Chapter 20**

**Tragedies Never Die**

**Zelda's Flashback**

"_Mommy…"_

"…"

"_Mommy."  
_  
"_Yes, dear."_

"_I can't sleep. Will you play your harp for me? It always makes me happy."  
__  
Zelda's mother shook her head. "No… let's do something different. Why don't you play for me, Zelda?"  
_  
"_Me? But I'm not as good as you. I'm always playing my notes wrong and they never come out right."_

"_I've been listening to you, and I think you are doing well." Her mother coughed as she sat up in her bed._

_Zelda placed her hands on her mother's. "Mommy, lay back down. You'll never get well if you keep rising out of bed."_

"_I'll be fine." She cupped her daughter's face in her hands. "Honey, I need you to do something for me."_

_"What do you need?" _

_"I want you to promise me something. Can you do this for me?"_

"_You have to tell me first."  
_  
"_Of course. Zelda, when I and your father go on to the next world, I want you to stay strong."_

"_Stay strong?"  
_  
"_Yes. I want you to do whatever you can to be the best queen you can be for Hyrule. I want you to be there for your people and never let them down. I want you to live as long as you can. And when your time comes I want you to already have a child of your own who will help you rule Hyrule just like you're helping me. And when you have to leave, I want your child to do the same, from generation to generation. This is what your grandmother told me to do when she left me and now I'm telling you, and I want you to tell your child and your child to do the same."_

"_Mommy, why are you telling me this?"_

_Her mother's blue eyes trembled a bit, but she refrained them from continuing. "I'm not going to last much longer."  
_  
"_Don't say that. The doctor said you would be well soon. You'll still be here with me and father." Zelda said confidently._

"_He may have said so. But I'm being called home, hon. To my home in heaven."  
_  
"_No… I don't want you to." Zelda started to cry. "You can't leave me, Mommy."_

"_I know." She wrapped her arms around her daughter and hugged her tight. "I know it's hard. But my time has come, my darling daughter." She lifted Zelda on to the bed next to her while still hugging her. "I have done what I was told to do. My duties are completed and now I must cross over the river back home."_

"_Mommy, please. Don't leave me. I don't want to be by myself. Take me with you at least. I can't live without you."_

"_You must, Zelda. What about your father and Impa? You will be missed if you leave with me."  
_  
"_T__hey can come too." Zelda cried against her mother's chest. "We can all be together forever. Isn't that good?"_

_Her mother slowly shook her head. "No. You're still needed here along with your father and Impa. Hyrule will not stay strong without you here. You may not see it now, but you help keep Hyrule beautiful, peaceful, and united."_

"_I do?" Zelda said in a tiny voice._

"_Mm-hmm. If you go, who knows what will happen to Hyrule or your father. With me gone, he will need his other piece of joy and happiness to be by his side. Do you know who that is?"_

_Zelda looked up at her mother from her warm embrace. She knew and she now understood. "Okay. I'll stay and do the best I can for Hyrule. I promise."_

_The Queen of Hyrule smiled at her. "I'm glad to hear this. I have my faith in you."  
_  
"_Mm-hmm." Zelda tried to smile, but no avail. "But that doesn't change that I'm going to miss you." She threw herself on her Mother's pillow and continued to sob. The queen started to lie down next to her. She pulled Zelda away from the pillow and let her weep in her arms. She saw Zelda's harp not too far from her hands. She sighed. "Here, let me play for you."  
__  
She picked up the harp with her free hand and brought it over to her. She took her other hand and placed it on the harp's strings, as she got comfortable on the bed. She started to play Zelda's favorite lullaby. Zelda's sobs turned into small whimpers as she played the musical instrument. She kept her head on the pillow and listened to her mother play. She just closed her eyes and remembered all the memories of her 6 years with her mother. As her mother continued to play she heard her mother say something softly to her._

"_I love you, Zelda."  
_  
"_I love you too, Mother," she said softly. She almost drifted into sleep, but she heard one more thing._

"_Please, Zelda. Keep Hyrule safe for me. We will see each other again one day. Until then I'll be with you in spirit."_

**_End Of Flashback_**

Zelda stopped the dagger inches away from her chest. Her hands trembled as she dropped the bloody dagger. "I can't do it." She looked at her hands. "I made a promise. And right now I'm breaking it."

_I promised my Mother I would live on and protect Hyrule until its my time to go be with her, And now isn't the time. Hyrule still needs me. And I won't let my people down. I already let one person down._ She looked down at Link's lifeless body. "I have to let him go. Let him be with his mother, father, and Veronica." She placed her hand on his scratched up face. His once handsome face was now pale. And his blue eyes were no longer the same. His green tunic looked like a red tunic due to the blood. His face had a couple scratches and a small bruise on his forehead when he hit the rock.

She slightly laughed to herself. "Well, Veronica… like you said… you won. You have Link and I don't. I hope you two will be happy together." She stood up and looked over at Mewtwo. He was glowing a purple color. He was mentally healing himself. Sure enough, as she watched for a little bit longer, she saw Mewtwo twitch. The purple glow around him stopped. She got up and walked to him to help him if necessary. When he opened his eyes, Zelda was standing above him.

"Hello."

"Hi," she said softly. "I'm glad you're okay. "

"She didn't hit me that hard. All she did was slightly clock me on the head. She's not as strong as she looks." Mewtwo looked at the sad princess. "You made a wise decision to stop, Zelda." He got up and looked past her. "But I wish I could have been awake to stop you from what happened."

"It's okay. I'm ready to accept whatever consequences fall on me. But I must get back home right away to keep my duty."

"Hmm… that's understandable. But what about your friends?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should leave without talking to them. Besides... two of them are gone anyway."

"I think we should try and find your friends. At least you could say a few words to them. So they at least know what's going on." Mewtwo suggested.

"I guess so. But it's too painful to say good-bye to all of them. I don't think I can handle this at all."

"I'm sure everything will go well." Mewtwo looked back the way they came. "Let's head back down the mountain. I can't sense your friends from here. If we go a little further down the mountain I'll be able to pick up on their life force. Shall we?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes. But I want to do something before we go."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Mewtwo? Can you help me build a burial ground for Link? I don't want to leave him out in the open."

"Of course, Princess. That would be proper for him."

"That's what I was thinking. But it may take a while to make a big enough grave for him. We don't have any shovels. So we'll have to get our hands deep in dirt."

"There will be no need." Mewtwo closed his eyes and remained silent. He started to build his psychic energy inside of him. The ground, not too far from Zelda's feet, started to shake. Zelda stepped back and watched in amazement as Mewtwo lifted the soil from the ground and moved a little to the left as the mud soared past her and over to Mewtwo. While he was doing this, his eyes were yellow. He was not making any straining noise but he did look like even a littlest distraction would throw him off balance. He stopped it in front of them and let it drop on the ground. His eyes turned purple again. "Finished under a minute."

"That does beat digging with my fingers." She said with a smile. "Hmm… I wonder if there are any flowers around here."

"I believe I saw some nice wildflowers at the bottom of the mountain earlier. How about I get them for you?"

"That would be nice. But you don't have to if you don't want to."

"It is fine with me. I will bring some back for you momentarily." He teleported away.

Zelda sighed and walked back over to Link. She sat down next to him. He was in bad shape. Zelda closed her eyes and held a hand out. Her hand started to glow a light pink color. She started to use her magic on Link. His scratches slowly started to fade away. His face was scratch free and the bruise left existence. And lastly, the wound on his chest started to close up and the blood started to disappear. His clothes looked brand new. She stopped her magic and opened her eyes. She looked at him and smiled. "If only I could bring you back. I would apologize for everything."

"You know. When we always argued about Veronica, I couldn't understand it. I liked you so much and I thought you liked me too. But here's the thing. I don't know why I couldn't stay mad at you every time you kept saying you liked Veronica. I thought I hated you for it, but I didn't. For some reason, my connection to you grew stronger." She ran her hand through his blonde hair. "I never wanted to be mad at you because you were one of the very first friends I had when I was in Hyrule. When we first met, I didn't think of you as anyone but the Hero of Time, but as time passed, when you saved me and our kingdom from Ganondorf, I felt something. It was a friendship. But as you continued to fight and then when you got hurt I realized it was much more. I want to be with you, but I made a promise to my mother and I have to keep it."

She knew there was no point in talking to a dead body. But somehow she thought he was still listening. "I'm not sure if you loved me or if you just liked me. I know you told me Veronica was your love, but you kept me alive. I think there was more to it. But who am I to say what's the truth and what's not? Only you knew the truth, Link. I guess I'm only trying to say one thing here, Link." Zelda leaned down and kissed Link's slightly warm lips. She felt tears coming down, but she let them fall. She slowly pulled away from him. "I love you. Even if we're in two different places, I can't wait till I see you again."

Mewtwo returned at the time, she started to rise up from Link. He had many colored flowers levitating in front of him. "Princess Zelda, I found many flowers. She rose up and took the flowers as Mewtwo used his psychic power to send them over to her. "Are you ready ?"

"I am."

He closed his eyes and started to concentrate again. He started to focus on Link. He lifted Link body with his psychic powers again. Zelda watched Link start to float upward and go towards the grave. When Zelda saw him above the hole she walked over to it. She looked at Link one last time before shutting her eyes. "Okay, do it."

Her mind started to slip back in time. Back to the times she and Link were together. When she first met him when he appeared at her castle. When she saw him seven years later while she was disguised as Sheik. When they both stopped Ganondorf together. There was the time when she had to send Link back to his own time. Seeing him back when he was younger and when he left. Then when she saw Link at the SSBM mansion. All the time they spent there having fun. She saw the time when the minions invaded the house and then tried to take advantage of her but he saved her just in time.** (A/N: Part of these memories are from my fanfic, Free Me)** She remembered when she thanked him later with a small kiss on the lips. While they were on a Serine Isle, she remembered their walk and their almost shared kiss. And she remembered all the arguments and now she remembered this. When she killed him.

When she turned back around, she saw that Mewtwo had already placed his body in the grave and now he had piled the dirt on top of it. She was glad he did it, because she wasn't so sure she would have been able to. As Mewtwo finished, she walked over to the grave and stared at it. Link was no longer visible under the pile of dirt. He was completely buried. It wasn't anything special, but Zelda was just happy to not leave him rotting in the open. She got down on her knees and placed the flowers on the grave.

"I'll give you some more time." Mewtwo said as he went through the bushes.

"Mm-hmm." Zelda clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. She started to pray. Her tears kept falling as she thought about what she was doing. But she prayed and prayed. She never wanted to leave.

**Flashback**

_I'm always going to be there for you, Zelda. I am your protector._

"_Protector? You don't have to be. I mean, since Ganondorf is gone, you don't have to stay around here anymore. You can live a normal life."  
_  
"_Sorry, you dragged me into this. So, now I'm stuck." Link said quietly._

"_I didn't mean to."_

_"No. I'm glad you did, Zel." Link smiled and patted Zelda's shoulder. "Thanks to you, I learned much about my past. I'm not just some fairy boy anymore. I'm a Hero of Time because of you."_

"_Does that make me like a hero?" Zelda asked._

"_Sure does! Hey! Maybe we should start calling you The Heroine Of Time." Link laughed at his own joke._

_Zelda rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless, Link."  
_  
"_I'm just trying to make you laugh. You know I'm funny right?" Link stared at Zelda with a pouty look. Zelda couldn't resist the look. She started to giggle. "Told ya. No one can resist."  
__  
Zelda continued to laugh. She saw the sun setting. "Well, you better get back before dark. The guards increase during the night time."  
_  
"_Oh right." Link said sarcastically. "Like they can catch me."_

_Zelda bit her lip. "Link, please. I'm being serious." She grabbed his hands. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."_

"_…" Link looked at Zelda's hands holding his._

_Zelda blushed and pulled her hands away. "Sorry."_

_Link got up. "I'll leave. I'll be back tomorrow okay?"  
__  
Zelda stood up with him. "You don't have to. You're free now to do whatever you want now."  
_  
"_Yes I know. And I want to come see you everyday, Zelda." He brought his head closer to her right ear. He whispered, "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who can protect you from all harm. It's like destiny is telling me to be with you at all times."_

_Zelda silently gasped. But she formed a small smile. "Thank you, Link."_

_Link backed away and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Zelda." He started to leave._

"_Be careful!" Zelda called._

_Link turned around and gave Zelda a thumbs-up. "Of course. How else am I going to be your protector? Remember, I'm going to be with you and no one's going to separate us!"_

_Zelda stared at him for a moment and thought about what he said. She closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes." She started to wave as she opened her eyes. "No one will."_

**End Of Flashback**

Zelda sighed and opened her eyes. She started to whimper quietly. _No, Link. We are separated and it will stay that way, and the worst part about it is I was the one who caused it._

**Front Of the Estate**

The sun was starting to set as the four friends walked up to the estate. Pichu was leading the way by pointing in the right direction on Marth's shoulder and Roy and Peach were behind them. But Peach was slowly falling behind as she was fiddling through her pocket of her dress. She found her perfume bottle in her pocket. "I wonder why this stuff made Ace fall out like that?" Peach held the bottle up to her face and shook it to look at its contents. "I never fainted from this perfume and I've been using it for months."

"Hey! Don't play with that stuff. In fact, I think I need to confiscate it!" Roy grabbed for the bottle. But Peach pulled it back. "Give it, Peach!" When he reached for it this time he was successful in grabbing it, but Peach still held onto it.

"No, its mine!" Peach snapped. "Why do you want it? It's a girl's perfume."

Roy tried to pry her hands off the bottle. "So, what is it? A deadly poison for boys who get on your nerves?"

"If it means hurting you, I hope so! Now let go!"

"No, you let go!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Marth rolled his eyes and Pichu sitting on his shoulder did the same. "Come on." Marth walked back over to them. He got in between them. "Stop playing around-"

"Fine, you want it? Take this!" Peach pushed her finger down on the nozzle. But she didn't hit her target. Roy moved away quickly but Marth and Pichu were still in the line of fire. Peach gasped as Marth and Pichu started to cough and make gagging sounds. "Oh my gosh. I am so sorry!"

Marth brushed the fumes away. "Perfect. Like I really want to smell feminine all day."

Peach glared at Roy. "I told you." Roy frowned and started to mock her. After that, the group traveled in silence till they reached the front door of the estate. Peach tried the front door but it wouldn't budge. "The door is locked this time. Last time they left the door wide open."

"That's because you were naive enough to come through the front door not knowing it was a trap." Roy muttered.

Peach opened her mouth, but then she thought about what Marth had said earlier about Roy being worried about her safety when she emerged from the train. She ignored him and looked at Marth. "Do you have any ideas, Marth?"

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you hear what I just-"

"No," Marth interrupted. "I don't have an idea at the moment. But we need to get in there and save Samus and find Zelda. Who knows what that guy could be doing to her? And Zelda could be anywhere..."

"Man, forget the ideas." Roy unsheathed the sword. "Just blast down the darn thing!"

"Roy, no!" Peach said quickly.

Roy, of course didn't listen. He used his Flare Blade attack on the door, causing a massive explosion and leaving broken pieces of wood. Marth, Roy, Pichu, and Peach just stared at the debris and broken wood. The door was completely demolished.

Marth gritted his teeth. "There was a better way to avoid this than bringing a loud commotion to our entrance."

"I know that." Roy said. "Now…" he added.

Peach didn't know why but she wanted to laugh. _Roy can be so stupid sometimes. And it's kind of well… cute. Aah! Get a grip! Think about what you're saying. This is the pyromaniac boy you hate to the max. But he can be so…  
_  
Marth looked back at his friends. _Now what? I have no idea._ "What's your next move, Roy? I wait with baited breath." He said sarcastically.

"I have an idea and it's good too! Scatter!" Roy ran to the right and left the others.

Peach and Marth stood there and watched him leave. Marth continued to stare in the direction Roy took off in. "Now what if the enemies are in that direction? He's walking into a death trap."

Peach shook her head as she kept her eyes in his direction. "He's a real idiot. I'll go with him. What about you?"

"I'll go the other way. I can handle things on my own." Marth replied.

"With an injured arm?"

Marth brushed off Peach's comment. "It's getting better. I'm not some weakling, Peach." Without waiting for another comment he left Peach and Pichu.

Peach sighed. "Boys. Don't know why they were created. Pichu, go with Marth okay?"

"Pi." Pichu scampered off after the swordsman.

"Roy, is going to need help if he's by himself." She took a deep breath and then jogged in the direction Roy went.

Marth stopped running when he came to a three-header. There were three paths and he really didn't have the patience to find out which one was right He wanted to get Samus and leave as soon as possible. _What is she going to say when she sees me? She'll probably say something like "I don't need any rescuing. I can handle things on my own." I can imagine her saying something similar to that. I should just leave and let her stay with Garrett. _

Marth heard footsteps by his feet. He looked down and saw Pichu down at his side. Marth had remembered saying he wanted to go alone. But then he realized Pichu could come in handy. He crouched down next to Pichu. "Hey, Pichu can you get a whiff of Samus's scent?"

Pichu understood what he had said. She closed her eyes and started to sniff the air. Unlike Pikachu, Pichu couldn't pick up on scents as fast as he could. She took a couple more sniffs and then opened her eyes. She went to the farthest door to the left and pointed with her tiny paw. "Chu."

"Alright."Before Marth got up and went over to the dooe, he scratched the back of Pichu's ears. "Remind me to get some cheddar crackers for you later."

Pichu smiled when she heard her favorite snack. She felt like she was on cloud Nine. "Pichu!" She started to imagine eating them as Marth got up to leave. She stood there for a few more seconds imagining it and then she noticed Marth had left. She sighed and almost followed him but something caught her eye. She saw a piece of cheese on the floor. Pichu went to investigate it. She sniffed it and as she tried to bite it, it zoomed away in a farther away spot. Pichu was confused and followed the cheese, as it went around a dark corner.

Marth followed the long hallway into a very large room. It looked like a lounge. The room was further down the hallway. Marth's patience started to boil over so he broke into a run. He needed to get some hints around here. When he reached the door he sighed. "Okay… here goes…" He tried the door. The knob slowly moved and he opened the door all the way. As soon as he saw what was inside he walked in. The room was empty just like the other ones.

"Well, this is disappointing. Where are they keeping her?"

Marth heard a door click behind him. He looked up and saw the closet door open. Someone came bursting out of the door. He knew the person right away. Samus stopped running as soon as she was out of the closet. She started breathing heavily.

"Samus!" he called.

"Huh?" Samus heard the familiar voice and looked up. She gasped when she saw Marth standing before her. She didn't know what to do. "Marth?"

Marth didn't move, but stood there. "Are you okay?"

Samus looked at him for a long hard time. She missed him so much. To find he had concern for her made her feel like just hugging him and never letting go. But she wasn't feeling anything in her legs. She felt like she was going to keel over. _That dumb device. It's messing with my head. I can barely keep my eyes open. I only have a few more minutes before this thing sets into my brain permanently. I need to warn him. But I don't have a single bit of strength in my body. Is it the chip?_

Marth walked closer to her. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"S-st-a…b..a.." Samus couldn't form any words. Something was infecting her from the inside.

"What?" Marth continued to make his way towards her.

"…" Samus tried again. "g-go… b-ba.." she muttered.

"Samus, what are you saying?"

"Stay…back…" Samus looked at Marth's face. He didn't comprehend it fast enough. She gathered her last bit of will to speak. "Stay back!"

"Stay back?"

Samus didn't answer. She collapsed to her knees. _No. I can't go out yet. He needs to know._ But Samus couldn't stop herself as she fell to the floor. Samus grabbed her heart. _Marth, look out! I can't speak anymore. Garrett is stopping me. _Marth didn't waste another second. He moved to get to her side but stopped when someone came out the door. Garrett was came out of the room Samus came out of with his arms crossed.

"I told you not to run away, Samus." He grinned evilly as he saw Marth from the door. "Ah, Marth. I've been expecting you. What took you so long?"

Marth glared at him. "What did you do to her?"

Garrett raised his eyebrows. He looked down at Samus on the floor breathing heavily. "What did I do?" he said softly as if he didn't know what he was talking about. "I don't understand."

"What just happened to Samus? Your little friend Ace told me she was being kept up here with you. I find her and this happens." Marth placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I want some answers. So, you better give me some."

"Or what?" Garrett walked out of the closet door and shut it behind him. "You're going to slice me with that sword of yours?" Garrett reached behind his back and pulled out his own sword that was strapped to his back. It was similar to Link's but only in size. The blade was a lot thicker than Marth's. "I wouldn't count on that."

Marth kept his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Look, I don't want to fight. Violence is one of the last things I want to start. I want to know what you did to her."

Garrett placed his sword's sharp end hard into the ground. "Hmm… I don't know." He put all his weight against the sword as he leaned against it. "How about this? You beat me up enough with that little dagger you call a sword and then I may just tell you."

"That's not possible." Marth unsheathed his sword. "Because as soon as I attack with my sword, you won't have the strength to tell me anything."

"No chance in hell that will ever happen. Let's just settle this right now, and see who gets to her alive. Let's make this a duel to the death?" Garrett readied his sword.

"Fine." Marth got into his fighting stance. "Have it your way." He didn't take his eyes off Garrett as he moved back. He stared deep into his amethyst eyes. Garrett was just smiling as if this was all a game to him._ I don't like this. That smile on his face is suspect. He's got something up his sleeve. But he could be trying to psyche me out and make me think he has a plan as if he's maybe stalling for time. Only one way to find out. _Marth made the first move. He charged straight ahead at Garrett going at top speed. He moved his sword when he reached him, but Garrett disappeared in front of his eyes. Marth came to a halt. "What the…"

"What? Too fast for you?" Marth turned around to see Garrett behind him. He had his arms crossed with his sword in between them. "I knew it would be too much."

Marth smiled and readied his sword. "Actually, you're fine. You're fast enough. _But_ not as fast as me of course."

"What?"

"Come on, Garrett. I am a smasher after all. I was just going to slow to test you. At my regular speed you would look as if you were standing still." Marth teased. "I was expecting more of a challenge."

Garrett closed his eyes. "Heh, that's what you wanted? Well, you're looking at one. You see, I didn't put all my effort up to bat either. As you were doing, I was testing your skill. I was impressed but I hope it will be much better than that because I'm going to be stepping my game up little by little."

Marth growled in agitation. "Enough talk. Let's go."

As they went on, Samus only stared at them from her fallen position. _Marth..._

**Other Side Of Mansion**

Peach felt like falling over her. She hadn't had a moment's rest since she snuck up here the first time with Samus and Zelda. When she thought about Zelda, she bit her lip. She had no idea how the young princess was doing. After being pushed out of a train, she guessed Zelda was not feeling good at any moment. But she hoped Mewtwo was able to get her to safety away from Veronica. It would be her fault if she led her into a trap. She had not been successful in finding Roy yet, but she had been successful in locating one of the creeps, Jay. But luckily he didn't see Peach scurry past the room he was in. She wouldn't have to scurry past anything if Roy wasn't such a pyro-loving maniac. She hoped to find Roy soon, so he wouldn't get ambushed by all of the flunkies. Peach placed her hands towards the sides of her mouth. "Roy? Roy where are you?"

No answer yet again. After over 22 tries, Peach was ready to give up. She decided to give it one more try. "Ro…" A hand went over her mouth and then the person dragged her over to a room. Peach tried to break free but the hand was way too tightly clamped over her mouth. She screamed but it only sounded muffled. Not knowing what else to do, she opened her mouth to the best of her ability and bit down hard on the victim's hand. The person let go immediately.

"What the heck is wrong with you, Blondie?" the voice hissed in a whisper.

Peach stopped struggling and turned around. She came face to face with Roy, now holding his stinging hand. She frowned. "My problem? I'm not the one who tries to scare girls by grabbing them by surprise."

"Well, I didn't know you were going to react like that. I guess I'll have to be more careful around you."

"You could have just called my name."

"No, I couldn't have. If I didn't grab you right then, those other three people would have saw you."

"What?"

Roy didn't answer. He shut off the light to the room. "Stay down." He placed an arm around her and made her crouch down behind one of the beds beside him.

"Roy, what are we-"

"SHH!" he said quickly.

Peach was about to say one more thing. But then she heard footsteps coming closer. They were walking right past the room. She heard a thunderous voice.

"This room's perfect! Let's crash in here."

Roy pulled up the sheet of the bed. There was nothing under it. He looked at Peach. He tapped her quickly. When she turned in his direction he pointed a finger under the bed. She didn't argue as she dove under. When she was safely under, Roy crawled under the bed next. There was enough room for both of them.

Peach lightly hit Roy. "Get your cape under the bed." She whispered.

Roy saw his purple cape in view, not underneath the bed. He quickly jerked it under bed and tucked it under his body to keep it from getting in view again. His ears picked up to the sounds of more voices. The light flicked on.

"You in here, Hyde?" Peach recognized the voice as Jay's. She held her breath hoping not to make a sound as he entered the room. She could see his green shoes from her position under the bed.

"Yep! Come on in. I found a tube with cable!"

Roy scrunched his eyebrows. _Since when do tubes have cable? This language is the weirdest among most._ He heard a static noise. _They can't stay in here. What do we do! _Roy was going to move a bit. He felt a hard impact on the top of the mattress. It hit Roy on the head hard, before he hit the ground hard with his face. He heard a small whimper from Peach.

Peach knew that one of them had just flopped on the bed. _If I'm correct… _The mattress came down again hitting her on the head again. She contained her whimper this time. _The other guy's going to jump onto the bed. They're a lot heavier than they look. I'm surprised Roy is holding it all in._ She thought as she looked at the swordsman straining his eyes shut.

"Hey guys! I brought all the food." Another person had entered the room. Peach's eyes widened. She knew exactly who it was. She recognized the voice to be Moe's. "I brought popcorn, peanuts. Hotdogs, soda, chips, nachos, and what kind of party would this be without any beer?"

"Alright!" Jay said, "You got all my favorites. And I brought the cigarettes."

"And I brought a caged rat!" Moe added.

_Caged rat? Oh no! Pichu! _Sure enough, Peach heard the pokemon chirping in her language trying to get free. Peach looked at Roy to see if he knew it was Pichu. He nodded but he didn't move."Come on and have a sit down, Tubs!" Hyde said in glee.

_No! No! NO!_ Roy and Peach thought at the same time.

No mercy. Moe did a large flop on the bed. The mattress came crashing down on their backs and only went back up a little bit. Peach bit her tongue and Roy gritted his teeth as they made inaudible noises. The guys above didn't hear a thing over the blaring TV. Peach and Roy were paralyzed for a moment.

_This can't get any worse._ Peach said in her mind. She heard Roy sniffing something in the air. He made a small gagging noise. Peach's nose started to pick up on it too. It was a foul odor.

"Oh geeze, what is that?" Jay said loudly.

"Eww. Moe? Did you just break wind?"" Hyde asked.

"Sorry guys. It must have been those beans I found in the cabinet."

Peach and Roy covered their noses as he let out another gaseous fume. Peach wanted to just die._ Obviously it can. Why me?_

* * *

"Hah!" Garrett let out a battle cry as he tried to attack Marth up front. Marth moved aside quickly making Garrett miss the attack. But Garrett recovered quickly and attacked again and Marth barely dodged it as he rolled backward. He paused on one knee while catching his breath.

"I know we're in the midst of fighting, but I have a question for you." Garrett was catching his breath. "Why are you here for her?"

"Why am I here? That's a stupid question. She's in danger and I swore I'd be there for her, keeping her away from maniacs like you." Marth lifted his body up with his sword.

"You do realize she no longer wants anything to do with you." Garrett started to attack again. Marth still hadn't recovered fully so he used his sword as a defense this time. He was luckily able to stop him from slicing him in the face. "When we talked yesterday. She told me you attacked her purposely."

Marth countered the attack, making Garrett back off. He watched Garrett back flip to the other side of the room. "Just as I told her, I'll tell you the same. I don't know what you are talking about. I never attacked her. She has it all wrong."

"Hmm…" Garrett looked up at the ceiling. "Well, you got that part right."

Marth lost his focus. "What?" Garrett attacked him head on and was able to knock him down. Marth got up quickly from the ground. "What do you mean?"

Garrett didn't answer. He attacked him head on again but Marth didn't let him get far. He used one of his counter attacks to knock him back and onto the floor. Marth wanted to know. "What did you mean by that statement?"

"You and me both know it couldn't be you. You're just too much of a gentleman and too kind. You're just too perfect to be true as Samus says."

"She said that?" _Come on, Marth. Focus. He's trying to throw you off. But why is he telling me all this?_ "Why would she tell you that?"

"She trusted me. I'm quite the charmer. I can make a girl trust me with just the snap of my fingers. Of course there was something different about this girl from the others." Garrett sighed. He looked at Samus on the ground. She was no longer breathing. It was too late to save her now. The device was now injected to her brain. "She's fun to play with. Girls who have always been alone in their lives and barely understand how to tell a liar from a trustworthy man, always are. That's why I need to hold on to my little play toy."

Marth glared at him. This guy was making him sick. He attacked him again, but surprisingly Garrett dropped his sword. He grabbed Marth's sword with his bare hands. Marth's eyes widened. Garrett sighed again. "Okay, Marth, I'm done playing with you." He snatched the sword away from him and threw it. Before Marth could react Garrett gave him a hard punch in the stomach. Marth felt the wind being knocked out of him. Garrett kicked him hard making him fall over. "You don't stand a chance. You might as well listen."

Marth grabbed his side. "What… did you…say to her?"

"Well, before I took care of her, I told her who really sliced her and let me tell you. She wasn't too pleased to find out it was me." Garrett said evilly.

"That… that attack…it was…"

"Me? Yes, of course it was I. Marth, why would you do that to your beloved? You love Samus, don't you?" Marth didn't answer him. He glared at him. "But you never told Samus those words did you? You were too scared of her thoughts, especially after the first time you told her and she ran off." (**A/N: Again, more from my fanfic, Free Me)**

Marth couldn't hear Samus's heavy breathing anymore. Her face was pale and she was no longer moving. "Samus… you didn't…" Marth turned to his opponent.

"No. How would I look if I killed a woman? Not too good. But I'll tell you this much. It's your fault."

"How is it my fault?"

"Samus tried to warn you earlier. She had a device on her neck that was infecting her brain. But she couldn't get the words out in time. And while we were fighting the device was permanently settling in her brain."

Marth paused for a moment. He remembered what Peach had told him earlier. "A device? That's the-

"The mind-controlling device that was on her earlier." Garrett finished his sentenced. "Except this one has a twist to it. This one's permanent. She's a slave to me and she always will be. She won't even remember you."

Marth got on one of his knees. "You're lying."

"No. It's the truth. I'll have her tell you herself when she can be controlled. Or she'll die. Slave or dead, I guess it's alright. I've had my share of fun with her. But that'll take another hour, and I suppose I can't have you waiting that long. So, I'll just have to handle you myself." Garrett smirked at the pitiful looking Altean. "You're pathetic, Marth. You should have known earlier something was up. The first time I met her I thought she was going to find me out. But she fell for me easily. The more she talked to me, the more she started to hate you. But who wouldn't fall in love with me anyway? You two are just too gullible."

Marth was tired of Garrett. He got up and narrowed his eyes. "You're the reason she's mad at me." Marth walked slowly and angrily over to him. "You're the reason she hates me and she accused me of hurting her. You slashed her body, breaking her down mentally." Marth shook his head and continued to take step by step. "It was all you."

Garrett frowned and ran towards him with his sword when he picked it up. Marth didn't move. He didn't seem to want to do anything at that moment. When Garrett reached him he slightly moved aside and with an angry fist, he rammed his fist hard onto Garrett's nose. Garrett let out a small scream and grabbed his nose. Blood was flowing from it.

Marth looked at his hand. Blood in his own hands. He smirked. He didn't care what he had just done. It felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He felt pleasure. He needed to do it again. When he saw Garrett on the ground his face started to angrily flare. "You're a sick…monster." Garrett snarled like a rampaging dog. He brought up his sword but Marth smacked it out of his hands and then he stomped on his right hand hard. Another agitating scream was let out but it stopped and Marth stomped on it another four times. Marth heard a sickening crack but he just didn't care. Garrett got up quickly and tried to attack but Marth used the sword again and this time he knocked Garrett into a shelf. He looked at Garrett's sword. _It's just the right size to leave a nice deep cut in him just like he did to Sam._

Marth picked up the sword. "I told you violence was the last thing I wanted to start. But no one can ever seem to learn this. You'll be another one to learn the hard way."

Garrett strained to get a good look at Marth. "You aren't going to kill me. After all, what would Samus think?"

Marth kept his eyes on Garrett. "You're right. Perhaps in a different case, she wouldn't want me to kill you. But I don't think she would want me to leave you alive after what you did." Marth raised his sword. "She'll thank me for ending your sickening life."

"Marth, stop!" a female voice called.

Marth stopped the sword inches from Garrett's neck. He knew it was Samus. He looked over at her and saw she was still on the ground but her eyes were open and she was looking at him with a worried look on her face.

"Samus. " He protested. "You don't want someone like him to live."

"I...I don't. But please...don't be like him. He's hurt me and you. But you're not like that." Samus said slowly. "You're so much better than that."

"Samus, I just can't. After all he's done to us."

"I understand, Marth. But please listen. I don't want to see any more bloodshed and I know that you hate it too. Just...please just let him go."

Marth struggled with the sword in his hand. He had always tried to avoid death by his sword to others. But it wasn't his sword, it was Garrett's. Though it still felt like a murder to him even if it wasn't his. He looked at Garrett glaring at him. No, he couldn't move, but his look was getting on his nerves. He took the blunt of Garrett's sword and slammed it hard on Garrett's skull. Garrett let out a small cry and then blacked out. He picked up his own sword and went back over to Samus.

"Are you going to be okay, Sam?"

"I'll be fine." Samus strained to smile. "Now that you're here."

Marth helped her up so she was on her knees. "I was worried about you, Samus." Marth pulled her into a hug. "I don't want to lose you."

Samus felt her hands wrap around him. "Neither do I." She closed her eyes. "I love you and that's why I..." her voice became quiet.

"Huh?" Marth tried to look back, but Samus had a tight grip on him. He couldn't break free. "Sam, you're squeezing too tight." She didn't respond. All she did was squeeze him harder. He felt like his bones were going to break. "Samus, ease up!"

"Marth…I'm sorry." Samus took one hand off of him. She had a small device in her hand. She placed it on his neck. "It's for your own good."

"Samus, what are you…" Marth felt a tweak in his neck. It made him scrounge in pain. "Aah!" Samus had placed the upgraded controlling device on his neck. It sunk in quickly. Marth roughly pushed Samus aside and grabbed his head in pain. "What's…happening…" Marth started to cough up blood and shiver. _My neck is on fire._ His bones soon felt like they were breaking. He soon couldn't grasp any more air in his lungs. He fell on his back. He heard a laugh from far away.

"Samus." Marth said slowly. His eyes were halfway closed. He looked at Samus crazy. "Why did you just-"

"She's being controlled, Marth. She has no control over her body. And now that she's implanted that thing into your body, you don't have long to live. So, you better say your good-bye to your little girlfriend." Garrett laughed evilly.

Marth used every bit of his strength to get back up. His pain started to matter little to him, when he realized the danger that Samus was in. He grabbed Samus by her top. "Samus… look at me. You need to come back to me."

Samus didn't say anything. She just looked at him with her brainwashed eyes. Marth groaned in pain. _She's not listening. I've been in this situation before when I almost lost her, and I will not let it happen. But what do I do? What is that smell? Wait a second. Isn't that Peach's perfume? I don't know if this will work but if it worked on that Ace guy... I have no other option! _Marth pulled Samus close to him. But this time he made her head rest against his chest. She tried to get loose but Marth held her as tight as he could.

"Let me go!" she said in the struggle.

"No. I'm not going to let him do this to you, Samus."_ I hope she's able to smell it soon. My hands are getting weak from this device. Come on, Sam._

Samus's struggling started to falter. She stopped resisting and accepting it. She let out a small groan. Her control of her body was starting to come back as her hands fell against his body in an embrace. Marth smiled. "She's returning."

"No! The device is malfunctioning! What did you do!"

Marth didn't answer. He fell back with Samus still in his arms. He didn't let go of her. He looked at his sword inches away from him. He tried to reach his hand out but he let it fall back. _It's not important. This device is already killing me from the inside. I'll have to accept my fate. And Samus is safe now, so it's okay. _Marth wanted to kill Garrett badly but all he could think about was Samus. He looked at the girl lying on him unconscious and silently breathing on him. He pulled her more up on his body so he could look at her face. He gently touched it. "Sam…he did this to us so we couldn't be together and he succeeded. I'm leaving you." He could feel his consciousness slipping. "But even in the afterlife I'll still love you. There's no other girl around who can replace you." He reached his hand over the back of her head and brought her head closer to his so he could kiss her lips. He knew this was the last time. He didn't shed a tear though. He smiled as he broke the kiss. And with one last breath, he closed his eyes.

**The Room**

Peach felt like passing out. _This is so disgusting. Not only is it gas fumes, but now there are cigarettes. I can barely breathe. I need to cough, but I'll give away my cover._

Roy looked at Peach. He knew she couldn't take it much longer. But he wanted to see if they could get out of there alive. _Just hang on for a little bit more. But I'm not sure I can hang for much longer either. _

Peach was choking with her mouth still closed. Roy couldn't stand to see her suffer anymore and he couldn't stand anymore suffering either. "That's it." He said quietly. He started to unsheath his sword. Roy readied his point of the sword to stick upward into the mattress. "1…2…" he readied himself.

Moe burped. "Man am I…YEEOOWWW!" Moe jumped off the bed and fell forward knocking over the TV.

Jay looked at him crazy. "WHAT THE HECK MOE!"

"Something sharp poked me in my butt." Moe showed him his sore spot. "See…"

"What the…" Jay felt the bed getting hot. All of a sudden…

BOOM!

Roy used his flare blade attack again making the bed blow up into little pieces. Jay shot up off the bed. He landed on the floor with a thud. He got up quickly. "What's going on here?"

"I'll tell you what's going on." Jay turned around and met with Roy and his sword. "We're seizing this mansion and claiming it as our own."

Peach got up and glared at Roy. "Roy, this isn't one of your battles."

"Oh, right." Roy said in an embarrassed laughing tone. "I forget that sometimes." Roy grinned mischievously. "We're going to give you guys a reason to go crawling back to your moms." He looked at Peach through the corner of her eye. "How was that?"

Peach wanted to laugh, but she just smiled instead. "That'll do."

"As funny as this is…" Jay pulled out his gun. "We have to end these little interruptions."

Roy smirked. "You can try if you want to." Roy charged with his sword, but Jay shot his gun faster. But Roy ducked and used his sword to trip him up by the feet. He fell on his back. Roy kicked the TV on top of Jay making him stable. "That'll hold you for a while."

Peach was fiddling with Pichu's cage. "I'll get you out of there." She tried to pick at the lock with the pin she pulled out of her brooch. "This lock is tough."

Pichu removed her eyes from Peach and looked behind Peach. She gasped. "PI!"

"Huh?" Peach heard heavy footsteps behind her.

Moe readied his barb-wired 2X4 to hit Peach hard on her head. "Lights out, Princess!"

Peach screamed and covered her head. Pichu growled and electricity jolted from her body. She shot out the biggest thunderbolt she could muster. It hit Moe and stunned him. Pichu's shock broke the cage she was trapped in. She leaped out of the broken cage and into Peach's arms. Peach made her golf club appear and she whacked Moe in the stomach with it. He fell back into one of the large dressers. The dresser fell on him.

Peach sighed in relief. "That was close." She hugged Pichu and kissed her on her forehead. "Thank you, Pichu. I thought I was a goner."

Roy smiled. He was going to walk over to them but he heard something behind him. Peach turned around. "Roy, look out!"

Roy turned and saw Jay up with the TV raised over his head. He threw it at Roy. Roy dove out of the way, but it got the back of his leg. He fell to the ground. Peach rushed to his side and helped him up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." He looked over where Peach had come from. Moe was lifting the large dresser off of his body. "No way. How are they getting up?"

Peach shook her head. "That thing should have knocked him out. What's going on?"

"Don't know. But stay back." Roy started to scoot back with Peach and Pichu protectively behind him. He readied his sword for his Flare Blade attack. The two men stared to advance towards the trio.

"We don't want to hurt you." Jay said. "Especially you, Princess. I just want to take you into my sweet, warm embrace."

Peach almost retaliated, but Roy interrupted her. "As long as I'm here, she's going to stay with me where she's safe. I'm her protector."

Peach was shocked by his words._ Roy. _Her heart did a little flutter and she turned a rosy pink color.

Roy didn't look like he realized what he just said but Peach would never forget it. Roy started to power up. _Just a little bit closer._ Moe and Jay started to attack at the same time, but Roy shot his attack off first. It was much larger than the last one. The room started to shake. Peach, Pichu, and Roy flew back into a wall. Roy slumped to the floor in exhaustion. There were small flames igniting on the walls. But some of them were slowly going out.

Pichu looked at the swordsman. "Pi?"

Roy slowly patted her on the head. "I'm okay. They're… no…" Roy looked through all the smoke. He could see them coming through the smoke. They had no scratches on them. "That can't be. That always works…unh." Roy's shoulders were hurting. "I'll try...I'll try one more..."

"No, you'll exhaust yourself." Peach helped him stay up. "Roy, hang on." Peach discovered a small bleeding cut above his forehead dripping down his face. Peach was grabbing for her handkerchief to wipe some of the blood off Roy, but her hand fell on something. She pulled it out and looked at it. It was her perfume bottle.

Moe and Jay laughed. "As long as we're standing you don't stand a chance. Let's do this, Moe!' Jay and Moe lunged at them.

Peach stood up. "I hope this works." She said quietly. She shot out her perfume in front of them and sprayed the fragrance in their path.

When they reached the fumes, both of them immediately started to choke. They started gasping for air and they fell to the ground quickly.

"My lungs are on fire!" Moe said in gurgling noise. "Help me, Jay!"

Jay didn't answer. His body already stopped functioning and he was curled in a ball onto the floor not making a sound. Moe soon fell to the same fate.

Peach squinted her eyes at the duo. She sighed in relief when she saw them not moving. She just hoped they were alive like Ace. "That was way too close."

Roy was slowly standing up. "I told you that's a pepper spray for boys."

Peach smiled and lightly hit him. "Be quiet, Roy!" she giggled again.

Roy smiled too. "We better get going. Marth's going to need our help." Roy scratched his head. "Wasn't there another guy in here with them?"

Peach thought about it for a moment. "Yes, there was. He probably left while we were dizzy from these fumes. Let's go find Marth!

The three hurried out of the room, leaving the room a messy heap. They made their way back to the front entrance quickly. Peach was very tired but she was worried about her two friends and Marth, so she continued to follow Roy. Roy still had the energy to run, even though he was very weak from his attacks. Peach started to lag behind and get tired. Pichu started slow down so they wouldn't lose Peach.

Peach brushed Pichu away. "I'll be fine." She stopped in front of a bookcase and bent over placing her hands on her knees and catching her breath.

Roy turned back. "Peach, come on."

Roy failed to notice the person hiding in the shadows. He readied his gun aiming it on his target. Roy heard the clicking of a gun and he knew one of the other two were the target. "PEACH! PICHU!" he shouted. "MOVE IT!" Roy heard the gun go off.

Peach turned and gasped when she heard a scream. She saw who the real target was. "Roy!" She shouted as she saw him get hit in chest. He fell on one knee. She moved but she heard two more bullets go off. She didn't know where they came from that time but they were close. She heard two ropes snap behind her and Pichu. Peach turned and saw the bookcase behind her had its ropes cut off and it was falling towards her and Pichu. Peach couldn't move her feet. She was frozen in fear.

She was about to let out a cry but then she was roughly pushed out of the way. Peach fell out of the falling bookcase's way and slid across the floor. She rolled across the floor until she hit a desk in the corner of the room. There was a loud crash and dust filled the air. Peach moaned and got up quickly to see what had happened. Books were everywhere and the bookcase was snapped in half. She saw the man who did it. Hyde was on the ground with a sharp dagger in his right shoulder. He was down for the count.

"What happened?" Peach said as she rubbed her head. "Who did that?"

"PICHU! PICHU!"

Peach looked in the direction of the pokemon's shouts. Pichu was standing by the bookcase and she was tugging at something. Peach looked at what she was pulling. It was a purple cape. Peach looked even harder and saw someone under the bookcase. When the person's face became clear, Peach let out a loud scream.

* * *

Mewtwo's eyes finally opened. "I found them."

Zelda looked at Mewtwo from the tree she was leaning on. "What?"

"Everyone's at the mansion. And someone's in trouble, we need to get there. I can take us back. I'm still able to teleport."

Zelda got up from the tree and ran to Mewtwo's side. "Let's go!"

"Okay. Hang tight!" Mewtwo closed his eyes and started to concentrate on the area of the estate. He locked onto it quickly and soon they teleported. Zelda opened her eyes and saw the familiar estate area in front of her.

"We're here." Zelda said softly. Zelda noticed something when she looked at the front door. For one thing it wasn't there and secondly she could see Peach on her knees inside. She was crying.

"Roy, wake up!" she was saying through her sobs.

_Roy? Something happened to him? When did he get here? That must have been what Mewtwo was talking about._ Zelda ran inside and Mewtwo followed her inside.

"Peach!" Zelda called.

Peach turned around to the sound of her voice. She had tears streaming down her face. "Zelda! You're alright!"

Zelda didn't waste anytime. She hugged Peach and Pichu at the same time. "Oh, I thought you two were dead."

"We're fine." She said as she continued to sob. "Thank goodness, you're alive. Oh, Zelda." She continued to cry.

Zelda looked at Peach. "What happened?"

Peach moved aside for Zelda to see the tragedy. Zelda gasped. The bookcase was crashed on the floor and Roy was trapped under it. He was on his stomach was lying with his head to the side and his hands laid out in front of him. He was unconscious but he was still breathing. Not only did she see him, but also she saw the injured Hyde on the ground. "Oh, goddesses." Zelda said quietly.

"The bookshelf fell on him when he pushed me out of the way. But it was supposed to fall on me, Zelda. He risked his life for me and Pichu. If I was only faster, Zelda, this wouldn't have happened! I could have moved faster! I could have!" Peach hysterically explained.

"Shh, Peach." Zelda tried to soothe her. "It wasn't your fault. Roy wanted to protect you. It's alright."

"No, no it isn't!" Peach cried into her friend's embrace.

Mewtwo came into the room. He inspected the accidents and the broken bookshelf. "I can remove it."

Peach teared herself away from Zelda's embrace. "You can?"

"Yes, but it'll take a little bit longer since my psychic powers have not fully returned. Just give me some space." Mewtwo closed his eyes.

Zelda squeezed Peach's hand. "Don't worry. Mewtwo will get him out in no time."

"Yes, but what if he dies while he's stuck under there? I wouldn't be able to handle it. I don't want to lose any friends." Peach wiped away some of her tears.

Zelda wasn't quite ready to tell her the sad news. She watched Mewtwo stop concentrating. "What's wrong?"

"I can't seem to concentrate on this, something keeps pulling me away. Someone else in this house needs help." Mewtwo said with his eyes closed.

"Oh!" Peach exclaimed. "Marth and Samus! They need our help!"

"Marth is here too? Samus is okay?" Zelda hoped her friend was all right. "She's not being controlled anymore?"

"I don't know. I'm still confused about the whole Samus thing on the train. But Marth went to get her alone. Let's go find him, I worried." Peach started to walk but Zelda grabbed her hand. Peach turned back.

"You stay here, Peach. When Roy gets free and he'll need some medical attention. Someone needs to keep a lookout while Mewtwo is concentrating on the bookshelf anyway."

"I don't think you should go by yourself. Let me go with you."

"No, stay here. You've been through enough. I'll be okay." Pichu hopped onto her shoulder. Zelda patted her on the head. "Besides I'll have Pichu with me."

Peach thought for a long moment and then nodded. "Be careful. He headed that way to the left. Pichu will know the way." Zelda nodded and let the little pokemon guide her. Peach almost let her leave, but then she remembered something. "Zelda, wait!"

Zelda turned back around. Peach came running towards her. She stopped in front of the unconscious form of Hyde and sprayed something on him. He started to cough and choke. Peach then made her way to Zelda and gave her the bottle. "What is it?" She asked when she received the bottle.

"It's my perfume. For some reason, the men keep falling out when they get sprayed with it. I haven't seen Garrett yet and he may need a dose of that." Peach said quickly.

Zelda clutched the bottle tightly. "Thanks, Peach!" She hurried up to catch up with Pichu.

Peach sighed and watched her friends leave. _Be safe._ Peach looked at Roy still trying to get air in his lungs, making more tears build in her eyes. _I'm not leaving without all my friends by my side._

**The Lounge**

Samus opened her eyes. She came face to face with Marth. Except his eyes were closed. She realized that she was on top of him and pushed her hand against the floor. She was moving it on her own. _I have control of my body again. Marth must have stopped Garrett from taking complete control of me. I knew he would save me. But why is he sleep? _Samus lightly shook him when she lifted her body off him.

"Marth?"

She expected him to wince but he didn't move at all. She shook him again. He still didn't move when she stopped shaking him. She started to panic. "Marth, answer me. Get up…" He still didn't move. Samus placed her ear on his chest. She listened carefully. _I can't hear anything. He's not breathing._ Samus shook her head. _No… he can't be…no, not now. Not here!_ She shook him again. "Please get up!"

"It's no use, Samus."

Samus looked up from Marth and saw Garrett looking back at her. He was looking at the fallen swordsman. "He's no longer with us."

"What?" Samus hoped he was joking.

"Face it, Samus. He's dead and he isn't coming back." Garrett said flatly. Garrett had his sword in his hand. His finger was pressed onto the blade cutting it.

"No, that can't be. In order for me to return back to normal he had to be alive to get it off. And it's not on me so he can't be dead."

Garrett looked at her. He knew it was false confidence. "It's true. He did save you by getting that thing off you. But he was already slowly dying when he did it. After you were free, he was finally able to rest in peace."

Samus put her hand to his forehead. He still wasn't moving or breathing. Her whole body started to tremble. _This isn't happening. I must be dreaming. He can't leave me like this._

"I'm surprised he was able to deactivate it."

"Huh?" Samus stopped paying attention to Marth to check if she heard Garrett correctly. "Did you say he deactivated it?"

"Yes I did."

"But you put that newly modified device on me."

"No, I didn't. I put the old model on you. And I tested the new model on your boyfriend. And by what just happened, I guess it needs some work."

Those words hit Samus like bullets going through her body. Sure enough, she felt the device on the back of her neck._ He was supposed to put the new model on me. He told me that was what he was going to do. But he tricked me. He was saving it for Marth. _"Why did you put it on him?"

"Like I told you earlier on, it was new. And I wasn't going to test it on you. What if you died from it?"

"So it's better he dies, than me?" Samus said it more as a matter of fact than a question.

Garrett already knew the answer to that retort. "Samus, you know I still need you. Why would I try it on you?"

"Why? Did you really just ask me that question?" Samus found herself gripping the carpet floor hard. "He had nothing to do with you! He was innocent!" she snapped back.

"He was in the way just like all your other friends. If I had my way, I would have killed them too!"

Samus couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. He was too heartless to look at. She looked back down at Marth. "You can't be dead. You're still alive."

Garrett grew agitated. "He's dead Samus! You can't keep lying with yourself!"

Samus covered her ears. "Shut-up! You don't know what you are talking about at all."

Garrett started to walk angrily towards her. "You need to realize what you're saying. You can't love a dead man."

"How can anyone believe what you say?" Samus still didn't look at him as she turned her back towards him. She saw something on Marth's right side. She placed her hand on it.

Garrett was furious. "Do you want me to prove it?" Garrett looked at his sword. "I'll kill him again and make it official if I have to! Are you going to believe me now?" he asked on last time. She didn't answer him. He raised his sword. "Fine! I'LL PROVE IT!" Garrett brought down his sword.

Samus flipped around and whipped out Marth's sword. She held in a horizontal fashion in defense. She was able to stop his attack but Garrett didn't back down. He was pushing the sword down on Samus but she continued trying to stop him. "Stop trying to kill him!"

Garrett never seemed this frustrated. "Why do you keep defending him? He's dead! Why can't you understand what I am saying?"

Samus grunted as she tried to keep the sword back. "I refuse to believe that. He would never leave me alone like this! Now back off!" Samus' arms were starting to get very weak.

"You killed him when you put that device on the back of his neck!"

"I didn't kill him. You made me do it on purpose for your selfish reasons!"

"I may have done so, but you were the one who came talking to me aren't you?" Garret noticed her defense dropping and he knew now what to do. "Didn't you make the decision to follow me and do what I say ? You told your friends to come up here and look what you did. He came running to save you because of your gullibility and now he has to suffer!" Garrett looked Samus straight in the eye. "So it's all your fault."

Garrett's words had an impact on her. _It is my fault, all of it is. I caused it by my foolishness and now my friends are suffering because of me. _Garrett was starting to break Marth's sword in half. Looking at the breaking sword made Samus break her concentration.

Garrett was able to find her weak spot and knock the sword out of her hands. Before she could even get it back, Garrett grabbed the back of her neck, and made her face Marth. "Stop!" she shouted.

"No! Look at him Samus!" Garrett started to push her head down so she could get a good look not caring what pain she was in. "Can you honestly say he's alive?" he said in a loud echoing voice. She didn't answer him, but he knew she was thinking about it. "Do you really think he's going to get up and start walking again? Get it through your head, Samus! He's not…coming… back!" With that he let go of her neck and she gripped the floor with her hands to keep balance.

She kept her head down and her eyes away from Garrett's uncaring face. Garrett sighed and continued to hold his sword in his hand. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Samus. But you need to accept what happened. I care about you." He held out a hand to touch her cheek but she smacked it away. Garrett growled and raised his sword again. "If I have to make it permanent, I will. Now move! I don't want to hurt you!"

Samus didn't move. She was staring at the floor in defeat. She felt like she could no longer function anymore. Garrett told her again. "Samus, move."

She didn't move. "If you're going to do it. You'll have to go through me. I'm not going to let you do it."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"Fine, you don't have to. But I swear if you don't do it, I will. And if you put that disastrous device on me again, I will do everything in my power to kill myself."

Garrett stared at Samus. He knew she was telling the truth. She was too much in love with Marth. He thought maybe if he spent more time with her, she would forget all about him. But nothing could break them. No mind control device was stronger than love. He heard the door open behind him.

"Samus!"

Garrett turned around. He saw the Princess Zelda standing by the door. She was looking straight at him with her powers glowing at her fingers ready for an attack whenever Garrett moved. Garrett looked at Samus. She still hadn't moved from the floor. She was still looking at the fallen prince.

"Get away from her!" Zelda said directly to Garrett.

Garrett looked at Zelda and just kept an eye on her. He looked at her fingers. They were trembling. He knew he could take Zelda out easily and she would fall at his knees so fast it would be like he was chopping down plants. He closed his eyes and chuckled. "There's no need for an attack. I'm not going to attack you or her anymore."

Zelda's hands dropped a bit. "What did you say?"

Garrett prepared himself. "I surrender. Samus came out victorious." He walked over to Zelda slowly. Zelda stood her ground but her nerves started to rise. When Garrett was right in front of her, he saw something in her pocket. He moved his hand so quick past her pocket that Zelda barely felt it.

Zelda's eyes widened when she saw he had grabbed Peach's perfume. _Is he going to spray me with it? _

Garrett looked at the bottle. "This stuff, it is the end of anyone who gets sprayed by it." He looked at Samus one last time. She was finally looking up and she was looking straight at Garrett. She was wondering what he was going to do. "Samus, so beautiful." He shook his head and laughed an odd laugh. "But you were far more superior to me. I never would have been able to make you happy. I will miss you pure good-hearted green eyes and smiling face of beauty that no girl could ever find. " Garrett looked back at Zelda, who was still confused. He smiled. "Princess, take good care of your friend. She's really going to need you."

Zelda finally found some words. "But what are you…"

Garrett didn't listen to the rest of her sentence. He took the bottle and sprayed it straight in his face with his eyes open. He felt all parts of his body start to come to a halt. Garrett's eyes started to close but he had one last glance at Samus. She was looking at him in shock still, but he could tell that she understood what he did. He took one last breath as he fell to the ground and did not wake again.

Zelda couldn't believe her eyes. Everything was just amazing her today. She looked over at Samus, sitting on her knees. "Samus?"

Samus looked away from the fallen Garrett and looked at Zelda running over to her. She was happy to see her friend alive but she had no way to express her happiness. Pichu entered the room when she saw Garrett was down since Zelda had told her earlier to stay outside unless there was trouble. Samus sat quietly as Zelda got on her knees in front of her and Pichu came running up next to her. "Are you okay?" Samus didn't say anything. Zelda then saw Marth's body on the floor.

"Oh no…" Zelda said quietly. She looked at Samus. "Samus… he isn't…he can't be."

Samus eyes fell back on Marth. There was no going around it. She slowly nodded. "He is." Her tears were starting to form. "He's gone." Samus broke out in sobs as she collapsed on Marth's chest. "Zelda, he left me!" she cried.

Pichu went by Samus's side and patted her head, since she couldn't think of anything else to do for her friend. She tried to do the best she could. "Pichu pi."

Zelda felt tears start to fall down her face. Not only did she lose Link, now Marth was gone. Who was next? But she saved her own tears for herself. They were tears for Samus. She gently rubbed her friend's back. "Samus, I am so sorry. I wish I could have been here earlier."

"Why? Then you would have seen me kill him," she said in a muffled voice.

"What?"

Samus lifted her face from her fallen love. "Garrett used me, Zelda! I killed him when I had that chip on me. I put a device on him and it poisoned his body. Marth saved me and then he died over my stupid actions."

"But then it wasn't you. It was the device. You can't blame yourself."

"Yes, I can. I made you guys come to the estate so we could find more clues because I trusted him. And Marth came back to get me." Samus sniffed some of her tears back. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm even here." She looked at Marth's sword. "Earlier when he was trying to kill Marth for good I was only wishing one thing."

"What was that?" Zelda had recovered from her crying much faster than Samus. Samus was starting to dry up all her tears.

"I was wishing he would kill me too. I knew Marth was gone, but I didn't want to say it. I just wanted to be killed so I could see him and then I would be able to say he is alive."

"Samus… don't say things like that. You know Marth wouldn't want you to…"

"Give up my life after what he did to save me." Samus finished her sentence. "Yes, I know. It's the least I can do for him." Samus looked at her braceletless hand. "Even though he promised to be with me till the end of time." She lightly laughed in effort to brush off her tears. "But promises are meant to be broken, right?"

Zelda nodded, thinking about Link. They had made so many promises and now all of them were broken because of her. "Yes… but you'll get through it. I'm getting through mine."

"Your what?"

Zelda realized she was about to spill what happened. Samus had enough on her plate to deal and she didn't want to put any more shock on her. Samus looked like if she heard one more upsetting thing she was going to break into a million pieces. "It's nothing. Come on, Samus." She tried to help Samus stand on her feet. "You shouldn't look at him anymore. Let's go back to the others. They're worried."

"No, you go. I'll stay here. I still need some time." She said quietly.

Zelda understood. "I'll check on you later." She hugged her friend from behind placing her head on her shoulder so she could whisper in her ear. "You'll be okay, Samus."

"Mm-hmm..." But Samus sounded very unsure. "Zel, you say I'm someone to look up to. But I think you're the real role model. I envy you so much. You always make the right decisions."

Zelda didn't want to respond to that. "Please, I do not deserve such gratitude. I'm merely trying to be normal like everyone else."

"Well, so far so good." She said quietly without turning around.

Zelda let go of her friend and stood up. "Come on, Pichu. Samus needs some alone time."

Pichu nuzzled her furry head against Samus's right arm. Samus scratched her head in response. "Thank you, Pichu."

Zelda stood by the door and waited for Pichu to come closer to her. When Pichu stepped out the door, Zelda took one last look at Samus. She was back to running her fingers across Marth's face, trying to calm herself. Zelda sighed, obviously tragically depressed, and shut the door.

Samus felt tears building up in her eyes again. "I am so sorry, Marth. That death was meant for me. I can never forgive myself."

Zelda was about to walk back, but Mewtwo automatically appeared in front of her. "Mewtwo?" she wasn't surprised by his appearance. "What is it?"

"I see you walking out here, but you're without your friends. Were we too late to save them from the enemy?"

Zelda shook her head. "No, we were on time for Samus. But…"

"Yes?"

"We were too late for Marth. He's dead."

Mewtwo's eyes barely showed a reaction. "He's dead?" Zelda nodded. "And where is Samus?"

"She's in the room." Zelda pointed back to the door. "She needs some time to herself. It may take her a while."

"I see." Mewtwo looked at the door. "I need to talk to her."

"Talk to her? Mewtwo, she's really devastated right now. I don't think she wants to talk about anything."

"Is she in there blaming herself for his death?" Mewtwo questioned.

Zelda thought of his question as weird, but he was right. "I guess you could say that."

"Then I really need to speak with her." Mewtwo moved past Zelda. He turned back around and stopped Zelda from speaking since he knew she was going to say something. "Trust me on this one. You can help Peach out. The young swordsman is out from under the bookcase, but he needs some medical attention."

Trusting Mewtwo was no problem for Zelda. So far, ever since she's met him, he was a trustworthy pokemon and he always kept his word. It was just that Zelda was curious to know what he wanted to talk to her about. "Fine. Go ahead, just don't tell her anything upsetting." Zelda turned to look at him. He was already gone.

* * *

Roy's nose started to pick up on a heavenly scent. He slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was a piece of chocolate. He regained his vision and looked at the candy in a confused manner. "What the…"

"Good, it worked." Roy looked up to see Peach waving the chocolate by his face. She smiled down at him. "At first I thought it wasn't going to work. But I guess it's true. When you have a favorite person's food in front of their noses, they wake up instantly from the unconscious state."

"Peach?" he said slowly. He tried to get up, but he felt pain shoot through his whole body. Peach placed her soft hands on him to set him back down on the floor. "What happened to me? I remember pushing you out of the way of that bookcase and then what?"

"Hyde shot you, remember? I guess you whipped out that small dagger and threw it at Hyde, right?" She watched Roy try to remember and then he nodded. She continued. "Then you pushed me out of the way along with Pichu. Unfortunately for you, the bookcase came crashing down on your body. I'm hoping your body wasn't paralyzed from the crash."

"Paralyzed me? I can't move a muscle?" Roy said in shock. He did find it difficult to move.

"Well, we're not sure." Peach corrected him. "I think you just twisted one arm. But don't worry. When Zelda comees back, she can probably heal everything."

"I thought she only did wounds."

"True, but we'll see. Such an amazing girl."

Roy rested his head, finally being able to relax, knowing he would be back to normal soon. He looked at Peach. Her right arm was scraped. "Peach, are you okay?"

Peach was surprised by that question. "Huh?"

"I asked you if you're okay?"

"Um…yes I'm fine. I don't have any injuries unless you count scratches and scrapes." Peach smiled down at him. "Thanks for asking."

Roy smiled back. "No problem." Roy heard heels from the back of his head. When he tried to look up he saw Zelda get on her knees behind him.

"Hey Roy, You still hanging on?"

"Barely." He replied.

Zelda held her hands out. "This will only take a second." Zelda closed her eyes and started to do her healing magic. She was making his wounds recover faster. Roy started to feel his legs again as his legs twitched. She continued on for another 15 seconds before she opened her eyes. She took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Finished."

Roy felt like a brand new person. He stood up quickly with no problem. He looked at his arms and started to flop them around. He then looked at his feet and clicked them together. "Good as new!" He looked up at his healing friend. "Thanks Z."

"You should stop saying things like that. I have to heal you every time you do something foolish. A thanks coming from you is starting to get annoying."

"Yes, but he was heroic." Peach defended Roy, leaving both Zelda and Roy in surprise. "You should have heard what he said earlier when we took down the other guys. He was swearing he was my protector."

Those words came back to Roy quickly. He frowned. "Don't get used to them, Princess. How else will I be recognized as a hero if I don't defend obnoxious and bratty princesses as yourself?" he said plainly.

Peach immediately stopped smiling. _And these are the reasons why I hate him._ "Well, it's not like I wanted you to say those things to me anyway. I can get along fine without you. I'm starting to wonder why we even saved you!"

Zelda looked at Peach in disbelief. "Didn't you just say…" Zelda was cut off when Peach punched her hard in her back. She knew what that meant. She wanted Zelda to drop it, never bring it up again, and forget all about it. The two started to argue right on the spot.

"STUPID PYRO LOVING IDIOT!"

"STUCK-UP PALACE BRAT!"

"OBNOXIOUS MENACE!"

"HIGH MATINENCE PRINCESS!"

Zelda rolled her eyes. The typical fighting duo was back.

"MY HOUSE!"

Zelda, Peach, and Roy stopped thinking and arguing when they heard the thunderous voice. They all turned around and saw Mr. Walden looking at his demolished front door. Behind him were many police officers and bodyguards. Master Hand was floating right next to him.

"Mr. Walden?" Zelda said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking that question? It's my house!" he snapped. He was gripping his black hair in agony. He looked like he was going to spit fire. "What are you doing here?"

Zelda didn't know how answer that question.

"Isn't it obvious, Daddy! She's trying to commit more crimes!" a voice barked loudly.

_Daddy? _Zelda saw someone come through the crowd. If anything before had shocked her to the extreme earlier, this topped it. A very familiar and unforgettable girl came in front of her dad and glared at Zelda with her harsh ,purple eyes. The eyes belonged to Veronica.

**P/N: (Pichu's note) Ha! I liked the sound of that.**

**Pichu: Okay. End of the chapter! Whew! Wasn't that long? You know the drill. Please Review and maybe she'll come back. She said at least give her two weeks tops to quit sulking in her room. I can't stand this! I want to know what happens. She won't even tell me! And I'm cute! Let's make her update fast. So answer this multiple-choice question. It's a secret Royal Kenya doesn't know about. Here it is.**

**Ways to Make her Update Faster**

**A. Leave her a nice review and encourage her**

**B. Make her brownies**

**C. Shoot her with a harpoon gun! (Pichu: I made that one up myself!)**

**D. All Of the Above**

**E. Other**

**Pichu: Okay (looks at paper) Oh yeah. She also says once again, be ready for her surprise soon to come. You'll never guess what it is in a million years. Okay that's all so bye readers! Pichu signing off!  
**


	21. Beyond Belief Part I

**Hey guys. Happy Late St. Patrick's day if you celebrate it! I know you want to kill me for taking so long, but I've been really busy. After I was cured of my cold, I received another one because I decided to look at the storm from outside of my house. I can't help it if I like rain. Plus I had to work at an amusement park, and I had thousands of choir trips for the past few weeks. I've had this stupid poetry project for weeks. I used to like poetry but after the embarrassing moment of doing an oral report in front of the class for the required time of 10 minutes, I really loathe poetry. Thanks for the reviews, friends! Here's the next chapter.**

**Chapter 21**

**Beyond Belief **

**Part I**

_I must be dreaming. There is no way. My eyes are playing tricks at me. _Zelda shut her eyes for a brief second and then reopened them. Veronica was still there and not looking too happy. There were times back in the day, where Zelda believe zombies to be a myth but seeing Veronica alive in flesh and bone changed her opinion. Peach looked over at Zelda. Zelda looked back at her with a look of worry on her face. They were busted. There was a very long moment of silence before Mr. Walden opened his mouth.

"At first I thought it was only Zelda causing the problems. But now I know you three plus your other friends, wherever they may be, are in on this too."

Zelda looked away from Peach for a moment and placed a hand on her right elbow. "Sir, please…" she said softly. "They had nothing to do with what happened here. I dragged them into this. I'm the only one who needs to be punished."

Veronica frowned. "You sure do deserve to be, but so do your friends. They were trying to sabotage our house while you were trying to kill me."

Zelda felt eyes on her. She forgot that her friends still didn't know what happened earlier to Veronica. So she should have expected confusion from all three of them. She turned her eyes toward Peach. Her face was unreadable, but she could tell Peach was dying to know what happened in the past few hours. She didn't respond to Veronica's comment as Master Hand turned in her direction.

Mr. Walden heavily sighed. "Might I ask what you were doing at this house?"

"Well…" Zelda started.

"She didn't think of this plan. I did."

Zelda looked at Peach. She was standing up for her. Even though this time, it was Samus' idea. Peach crossed her arms. "I guess you still think Veronica is a little divine angel, don't you? But she's as bad as your son."

"My son? Don't drag Garrett into this. Are you trying to wreck both of my children's lives?" Mr. Walden questioned.

Peach frowned. "Mr. Walden, they're in this together. Him and his stupid friends knocked me, Zelda, and Samus unconscious and locked us in a freezer to freeze to death!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Roy piped in. "And then they tried numerous attempts to kill us."

"That's ludicrous. Garrett and his friends are well-rounded gentlemen. Your story is just becoming a bigger lie by the minute." Mr. Walden turned to Master Hand. "I think we're going to have to expel even more of your smashers, MH."

Master Hand felt another tight feeling in his body. "Hmm…" he said quietly. Things were not looking too good. He may lose some more good smashers and his job. But most importantly, he was going to lose some good friends.

"Daddy, maybe we aren't being fair at all. I mean we can at least let them have a fair trial. That way they can try and get their plea through." Veronica said with a smirk on her fare. "We can get a judge and everything."

Peach and Zelda exchanged glances and then looked back at Veronica. They knew she was up to something. But what the "something" was, was a mystery. Peach stepped back next to Zelda. "She's got something planned," she said quietly. Zelda nodded and kept her focus on the two Waldens.

"Hmm… it would be fair. I believe in freedom of speech. Why don't we? A brilliant plan, Veronica."

Zelda rolled her eyes while her friends groaned, moaned or said silent insulting words under their breath. A policeman ran into the room. "Sir, we found your son Garrett. He's unconscious. We think the large cat like human and that boy had something to do with it. We didn't go in the room but we could see through the crack in the door." Zelda gasped. _Oh no, Mewtwo's going to get into some serious trouble. And a boy… could he be Marth. Is he okay? Samus must be relieved. But things aren't looking too good for us._ She felt a small tug at her dress. Zelda looked down to see Pichu clawing at her dress. Zelda looked down at Pichu giving her a look telling her to stop. But Pichu didn't move. She decided to ignore the pokemon and faced Mr. Walden again.

"Well, let's get to him quickly and get him some medical help." He smiled at his daughter. "I think we can get the Inspector to act as a judge, Ronnie. That's the best we can do for now. I believe he's still inspecting the other rooms and checking on the rest of Garrett's friends." Mr. Walden patted his daughter on the head. Let's go get him and get started with this questioning. Veronica, you may go first."

"Thank you, Daddy." She placed her hands on her hips. "But what about them? I don't trust them to be alone."

"Neither do I." Mr. Walden turned to the police officers. "Officers, when we get to the back room I want you to keep them there till we're done questioning Veronica. I don't want any interruptions."

Zelda saw the officers advancing towards them. _What's going to happen now?_

**Lounge Room**

Mewtwo appeared in the room. He saw Samus not too far away with her head on Marth's chest. He couldn't see her face since she had it buried in his chest. Her cries were barley audible to his ears. He looked at Samus's hands gripping Marth tightly as if he were her favorite stuffed animal. Mewtwo knew this was going to be tough for her. He had never seen the bounty hunter upset about anyone's death before. He never really had a chance to actually have a chance to see if death ever did upset Samus, but this scene proved that it did.

"What should I do?"

Mewtwo paused. Samus knew he was here. And she was talking to him. Without worrying about it anymore, he replied, "Samus."

She raised her head up from her fallen swordsman. "I don't know what to do, Mewtwo. I have no idea what's to come up next." She said quietly. "Where do I go from here?"

"That's a question you'll have to answer on your own. I can't help you decide where to go." Mewtwo placed his hands at his sides. "But I know there is something I must tell you."

"What is it?"

"The day we left Serine Isle, Marth came to talk to me. He told me about..."

"The whole kissing thing, right?"

"Mm-hmm. But he told me something else too." Mewtwo recalled what he told him earlier. "He told me something bugging him. He felt he wasn't doing his job."

"His job? What are you talking about?" Samus' tears had dried up, but her tears had stained her face.

"He said he felt the need to protect you from harm." Mewtwo saw Samus's odd stare. "He said he was responsible for everything that happens to you. If anything he did ever caused you to turn away from him, like this kissing conflict, he felt he could only blame himself. I'm guessing what he did here to save you, was his way of making up for letting you down. I never can understand these human emotions of love. They're hard to grasp and understand how they work. But staying on topic, I thought it was important for you to hear that." He concluded.

"It is. But I never knew that he felt that way. And then when I told him off yesterday. Oh. It's worse than I thought. I was an even bigger jerk than I thought I was. I didn't think it could get much worse. I'm the one. I'm the one who caused all this ever since that big fight just because I didn't know why he was really fighting with me."

"It wasn't your fault, Samus."

"Don't say that. Just tell me the truth. I'm tired of people trying to be nice to me. I want you to tell me how you really feel!"

"Fine, Samus. But let me tell you ahead of time you won't like it." Mewtwo stood next to her as she finally lifted her head from Marth. "You should have never rushed into this relationship with him."

Samus didn't know he was going to be that honest. But she knew he was right. Though it didn't matter anymore, she always thought it was a little rushed. "I know."

"You do?" he said quizzically.

"I do. It would always strike me in the back of my head. My conscience kept telling me it was too soon, but I didn't care. I didn't want to leave him and when he told me he loved me, I never had someone tell me that before. If I didn't say yes, I just thought he'd eventually fade out of my life and I didn't want that." Samus stood up and looked at Mewtwo. "But I see what you're trying to get at. You're saying if I didn't meet him or ever interacted with him, he would still be…"

"He still is." Mewtwo said quietly. He watched Samus' eyes pop-open wide. He knew she was confused by what he said. "Marth is still alive, Samus." He clarified for her.

"How…" Samus looked at Marth. She couldn't see him breathing or anything. She turned back to the pokemon. "How can you tell?"

"It's faint… but I'm getting a psychic pulse. He still is hanging on by a thread. And I will be able to bring him back."

"Are you sure?" Samus watched him nod. She sighed._ Thank goodness. I don't know what would have happened next. I could have done...anything..._

"I could have sworn I felt his presence slowly drifting away. But now it's like he's just sleeping." Mewtwo was really puzzled. "I just don't understand."

Samus could hear Marth's breathing slowly coming back. She smiled as she placed a hand to his chest. It was barely moving but it was a sign of life. "I know why. He has a strong will."

Mewtwo moved his eyes toward the ceiling. "It would appear so. He's a very lucky man. And you're lucky too, you know?"

Samus didn't respond to the last comment. She didn't feel special at all. She still felt like a jerk to all mankind and she no longer felt she deserved to be on this living Earth. She shook her head as she stood up. "Somehow, the feeling's not mutual." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I feel guilty."

Mewtwo kneeled down and looked at Marth. There was nothing else he could say to try and make a smile appear on the girl's face. But it wasn't really his concern anyway. He was asked by Young Link to only check on Link and Zelda. And Mewtwo wasn't so sure if he could approach the young Hylian and tell the tragic tale of his lost older self. He closed his eyes. "I'm going to heal him now." He heard the shuffling of shoes. He opened his eyes briefly to see Samus had backed up in the corner of the room. _That's predictable. She still needs time to get herself back together. I wonder if Marth will need space too._ He continued his thoughts as he slowly used his healing powers.

Samus stayed in her small corner. A chill ran up her spine. _What is he going to say to me? I just can't stand around and wait. I know it's over. It's pretty obvious after what happened. I drag him into trouble all the time. And when he gets a clear understanding of what happened earlier, he'll realize the truth and dump me. And I wouldn't like it any other way._ Slightly satisfied with what she said, she crossed her arms and watched Mewtwo continue to heal Marth. In a few seconds, she could hear a small groan. She watched Marth scrunch up his face and then slowly open his cobalt eyes. Samus felt a small smile form on her lips.

"What happened?" Marth was speaking in a very soft voice. He looked to his left and saw Mewtwo above him. "Mewtwo?"

"Welcome back. We thought you were gone from this world." Mewtwo stepped back. "I've never seen such a recovery."

Marth didn't say anything. His eyes were checking his surroundings. In a matter of seconds, his eyes fell on Samus in the corner. Samus' eyes slightly increased in size. She stared at him, not sure what to do or say.

Marth sat up immediately. "Samus."

Samus' small smile dropped. She wanted to just fly into his arms. But she couldn't. It was too late for those things now. So, she just turned away and shifted her eyes to a nearby wall. "I'm glad you're okay. We thought we lost you."

Marth stared at her for a long time. She was trying her best not to look at him. He could see Samus was fine, but he could also see Samus didn't wish to talk to him. He wouldn't let it end. He opened his mouth, but it was interrupted when the door opened. In walked several policemen.

"He's in here!" one of them said.

Marth watched the man just run past him and over to the body of Garrett._ What happened to him? Last time I saw him, he was just fine. Now he's down on the floor. _Marth saw another policeman walk in with a stretcher. He hurried over to the injured Garrett. Marth saw Samus looking at all the men confused on what was going and Marth was even more confused then she was. He saw some familiar faces walk in. Mr. Walden came in with his dreadful daughter Veronica. Behind him were Master Hand along with Zelda, Roy, Peach, and Pichu. Zelda had spotted Marth first. She gasped. "Marth, you're okay."

Marth looked at the princess. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Mr. Walden cut their conversation short. "So you attacked my son too."

Marth looked at Mr. Walden. He forgot Garrett was his son. But Mr. Walden had it all wrong.

"No. Your son tried to attack us. He attacked me and Samus." He was slowly remembering what happened earlier.

Samus looked at the policemen lifting Garrett onto a stretcher. Horrid memories started to fill her head as she saw his face. She shook her head and turned away as they started to carry him out of the room. She looked back at Mr. Walden. And apparently, he was looking at her.

"And I guess you're going to claim this is true, right? You're all in this together after all." Mr. Walden said in a snappy tone.

Samus forgot that she was talking to a higher authority and raised her voice. All sadness and joy she felt from Marth's fall and then rise, turned into boiled irritation for Mr. Walden. "Yes! He did attack us! And we fought back to defend ourselves from your evil children!"

Veronica jumped in front of her dad. "How dare you insult me and my bro!" she said directing it towards the bounty hunter.

Samus placed her hands on her hips. "You want an insult? I can be a lot more brutal than you think!"

Veronica growled. She was about to attack her, but Mr. Walden placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "That won't be necessary, Veronica. I'm going to look for the inspector. Come along." Walden walked out the door and Master Hand followed him.

Veronica looked at the smashers as they left the room along with the police officers. "I told you. Mess with me, and I'll get back at you." She glared at Zelda with a smile. That was a nice attempt to try and kill me, but you're just not good enough." Veronica sighed. "Sadly, I guess this will be our last meeting before you all are expelled. And when I tell my dad about you-know-what, Zelda, you are through!" Veronica skipped out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

The room became silent before Samus got up from her corner and looked at Zelda. "When did she get here?"

"Not too long ago." Zelda stood in front of all the smashers. "I'm sorry, you guys. I really messed it up for everyone. We might all get expelled now."

"Well, we have a trial." Peach sat down in a nearby chair and Pichu pounced into her lap. "At least we can speak our minds."

"What do you mean trial?" Marth asked.

"Mr. Walden suggested we have a trial, so he can be quoted as a "nice" guy. I don't agree with those methods, but at least we get a say." Roy responded.

Zelda crossed her arms as she looked at the swordsman. "And what are we going to do? We have no evidence of anything. Veronica and Garrett made sure we had nothing to back our stories up." She sighed defeated. "There's no hope."

Samus walked up to Zelda and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Yes there is. Link wouldn't want you to give up so easily, Zel." She watched Zelda's expression drop.

"I don't know about all that. Link has changed. He attacked Marth in the train station and nearly twisted his arm." Roy said remembering past events. Marth had forgotten all about his injured arm. It wasn't surging in pain like before, but every time he would bend it he felt a few aches.

Samus rubbed her chin. "That doesn't seem like something Link would do. Where was he going?"

"Don't know. But he didn't respond when I asked if he was going to see Veronica." Roy commented.

Mewtwo looked at Zelda._ Is she finally going to tell them? _

Peach remembered something. "That reminds me. Did you ever find Link in the mountains, Zelda? You said that's where he was."

Zelda started to tremble. "Yes… I saw him."

"That makes sense." Marth ran a hand through his hair. "Veronica must have been there. Link said he was going to meet with Veronica somewhere. I'm sure you didn't let that slide, did you?"

Zelda bit her lip. She couldn't tell them what happened. But the more they asked questions, the harder it was to keep quiet. "No, I didn't." She said in a tiny voice.

"Well, why didn't he come back with you? Or at least Veronica?" Samus' eyes burned into Zelda's blue ones. She could see great sadness. _Ever since Zelda came in here, she has been acting distant. Something's amiss. _"Zelda, what happened?"

Mewtwo sighed. "Perhaps it's time to tell them what happened, Zelda."

Zelda looked down at her feet and sighed. She watched everyone in the room. Roy had his arms crossed with an arched eyebrow. Peach was looking at Zelda with great interest and Pichu was now standing in Peach's lap. Samus and Marth were both looking anxious and Mewtwo was the only one with a calm face since he knew what had happened. She sighed and parted her trembling lips to tell the story. "You see, this is what happened."

As Zelda told the story, she could see her friends' expressions change rapidly. There were some gasps, eye widening, comments, and questions. But Zelda didn't answer them. She kept her story going. She came to the part of what happened to Link. Everyone just stared at her and didn't say anything. Zelda started to whimper. She hated talking about it, but they needed to know. Usually, Zelda was the one who had to listen to the problems of her friends. But how the tables have turned. She sighed when the tragic news was over. "And that's what happened. Link isn't here with us because I killed him."

Samus stepped back. "Oh my… Zelda." She said in a barely audible voice.

Peach looked like she was going to fall out of her chair. Pichu understood what happened and was already sobbing. Marth hadn't said anything or done anything for the matter. He was staring at the ground with an odd expression on his face, trying to grasp what Zelda had just told them.

Roy's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

Zelda nodded in a jerky motion. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I thought Veronica was dead and I decided if I killed Link, they could be together and we could have all been there together after I killed myself."

Samus frowned. "You know that was really foolish don't you?"

"Yes. I realized trying to kill Veronica and then killing Link was stupid. But I realized it too late, Samus. I really am sorry."

Peach got up from her chair and crossed her arms. "She's not talking about that. She's talking about how you tried to set things straight by killing yourself just for them. They aren't worth that much trouble, especially after the trouble he put you through. That guy wasn't worth it." Peach was being serious for once.

"But what about what I did? Don't you care?"

"Of course we care. Link is..._was _our friend." Samus answered. She was holding back her tears at the loss of one of her best friends. "But you're someone we care about too. It wouldn't have been better for us if you killed yourself too."

"Guess you weren't quite thinking straight in the head during that time were you?" Roy commented.

Zelda looked at all of them in disbelief. "How can you all act so normal after what I just told you? You must not have understood what I just said. I killed Link! I'm a killer! A murderer and terrible friend! Why are you all still talking to me? Go get Master Hand! Turn me in!" Zelda shouted.

Marth looked up from the ground and shook his head. He looked a little hurt by the story but he stayed strong. "No. There's no good reason in doing that, Zelda. Losing you too is not going to solve anything or make it better for anyone."

Samus agreed with Marth. She would never do anything to turn Zelda in. "What's done is done, Zelda. We can handle that later. Right now, we still need to get your name cleared from this framing."

Zelda grabbed Samus' shoulders and made her look at her. "Why are you torturing me like this? You guys had nothing to do with this. Just drop me and get on with your lives. I'm ready to receive an expulsion, time in prison, even a death penalty if necessary. You guys do not have to stick up for me anymore." Zelda looked at Samus not faltering a bit. She started to cry. "Samus, please! I can't live like this!"

"We're not going to say anything." Peach walked over to her friend and smiled. "You were only thinking of what was best for Link. It's understandable."

"NO, IT ISN'T!" Zelda screamed. "STOP CARING ABOUT ME!"

Samus sighed and hugged the crying princess. "Sorry. Not going to happen. Weren't you the one telling me earlier that we all need to stick together. What kind of people would we be if we left you hanging? We're getting you out of this."

Mewtwo frowned at this sudden behavior. _I really don't understand what just happened. They don't care. Even after what Zelda said she did? This friendship is very confusing. Of all my studies on humans, this takes it to an all-new level._

Roy grabbed a chair and pulled it behind Zelda. "Here, have a seat." Samus let go of Zelda and helped her sit down. Roy kneeled down next to Zelda and did a small bow. "I'm still at your side, Princess. I won't let anything happen to you. Even if it means sacrifices will have to be made just to keep you safe."

"Roy, please…" Zelda started. She shook her head. "I just want to accept my punishment."

Marth sighed and shook his head."That's your problem, Zelda." He blew some bangs out of his face. "You always want to give in so easily. There's a way out of this."

"Oh really?" Zelda challenged him. "What is it then?"

Marth shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know yet. But hey, we'll figure out something. With six great minds in here I'm sure we'll think of something."

"Hey, just because Pichu can't talk doesn't mean she doesn't have a great mind." Roy defended the pokemon.

"Of course, Pichu has a great mind. I was talking about you." Marth explained clearly. He watched some people chuckle, even Samus had a small smile on her face but he could barely see it because she was trying to conceal it from him. "But I'm here to help, Zelda."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Your time will come, Lowell." Roy got up on his feet. "Like I said, if you need me, I'm here for ya, Zel!" he said proudly.

Mewtwo closed his eyes and nodded. "I'm willing to offer my assistance."

"Pichu!" Pichu chirped.

Peach looked back at the pokemon. "I guess that means she wants to help also. And so do I, Zellie."

Zelda could not comprehend the fact that they were still trying to help her. She could tell they were still hurt by Link's death, but they also didn't want to lose someone else in the process. She knew they wouldn't back down, no matter how many times she would tell them not to help her. There was no point. They were too loyal. She felt very lucky at that moment.

Samus smiled down at Zelda. "Seems like you got yourself a good team here huh, Zel?"

Zelda nodded. "I just don't know what to say except thank you."

Roy butted in. "Enough with the sappy drama speeches about friendship. Let's do some brainstorming. What can we do to back up our stories?"

Marth thought of something right away. "What about those little mind controlling devices? Garrett used one on me. Veronica has been using those too."

Zelda rubbed her chin. "That's a good start. Do you have it on you?"

"I wish I did, but the one on my neck seeped into my body and then dissolved I guess. We're going to have to fine one somewhere."

"Wait…" Samus said quickly.

Marth looked at Samus as she arched her right arm behind her head. She started using her hand to pick around the back of her neck. She stopped for a brief moment and then tugged at something. "It's still here." She pulled an object off the back of her neck from under her blonde hair. She squinted at the object when she brought it to her face. "This is one of the mind controlling devices they had. I don't think it works anymore."

"That's because of that perfume of Peach's. It works well on destroying those devices for some odd reason. That's how you broke out of the hypnotic spell." Marth added.

Peach looked at her perfume as she pulled it out. "I didn't know it was such a deadly weapon. But it did take out Jay, Hugh, Moe, and um… was it Ace? Yeah, Ace. It took him out too."

Mewtwo looked at the bottle. "May I see it?" Peach nodded. She held it in her hand. Mewtwo used his powers to glide it over to him. He inspected the bottle while the others continued to talk.

"Wait. We can't exactly win just because we have a device. They can turn it around on us and say we made those devices. We need more proof to issue this kind of accusation." Zelda knew she was being a downer of plans, but due to past experiences, she was only being cautious.

"No problem. We just have to check out that computer in that secret lab room." Samus jogged over to the memorable closet, which was a secret passage to another door. A door to the lab. "I'm sure it has the entire project on it."

"Do you know the codes and everything?" Roy asked.

"I have a code decipherer. Any other flaws?" Samus asked. There wasn't a single response. She smiled. "Alright we have intro to our trial, but now we need the meat and potato portion."** (A/N: That means we need the main important facts. Take school for example the most important classes you have are Math, English, History, and Science AKA meat and potato classes.)**

"Okay. Maybe, but what about all the attacks Veronica unleashed on me? How do I reveal the truth about those?" Zelda asked.

Before Samus could say anything the door opened. Mr. Walden walked in and Veronica trotted in after him. Mr. Walden looked at Zelda. "The inspector would like to see you, Zelda."

Zelda froze. It was too soon. She looked at her friends. They all nodded for her to go. Zelda guessed they had some kind of plan and she trusted them. She followed Mr. Walden and Veronica out the door. The door slammed shut.

Samus looked at her hands. "Oh, that's right. Garrett took my watch and communicator from me."

Marth put a hand in his pocket. The two items of Samus's were still in his pocket. "Here, Samus. I found these on the train."

Samus turned around and saw her watch and communicator in Marth's hands. She took them slowly out of his hands. She gave up and looked at him. "Thanks." Marth nodded but turned away quickly. Samus knew this was troubling, but it had to be this way. "Anyway, I need to check this estate for some kind of clue. But someone needs to check the computer for the information on that mind controlling device."

Mewtwo stepped forward. "I can help there. I've worked with computers."

"Really? That's a relief. Then you can stay here and get the information while I go check the house for anything. Of course that's only if you want to."

"I don't mind." The pokemon replied.

"That's good. Do you need my decipherer?"

"No I have my own psychic powers to guide me."

"Man, is there anything you can't do with your psychic powers?" Roy asked.

Mewtwo looked at the swordsman. "Not that I know of."

"We can figure that out later. I'm going to help look. It's not safe to search alone, Sam." Peach said. "Are you boys coming?"

"I am." Marth said without hesitation. "I don't want either of you girls by yourselves again." he added quickly.

"Count me in." Roy added.

Mewtwo looked at Pichu. "I want her to stay behind. I might need a lookout." Pichu nodded and hopped off the chair she was sitting on. She scampered over to Mewtwo and stood by his side.

"Alright, we have a plan then. Pichu, try to keep an eye on Zelda till we get back too okay?" Samus asked the pokemon. She watched Pichu nod. Things were working out well. Now all they needed to hope for was if time was on their side. "Let's get going."

"Hold on. Aren't the police guarding the doors?" Peach pressed her hand on the exiting door.

Mewtwo closed his eyes for a few seconds and then reopened them. "Not anymore they aren't. Open the door."

Peach opened the door and gasped. There were about two or three guards out there but they were stiff as boards. She looked back at Mewtwo. "Whoa… you have some serious psychic powers."

"I think the only guards left are the ones guarding the front door." Mewtwo explained to the smashers. "So, the road's clear from here."

Samus ran to the door along with the others. "Come on, let's go." The four friends walked out the door to go find some helpful last minute clues. Mewtwo spotted the lab room and headed for the door. Pichu followed the cat-like Pokémon to the room.

**Banquet Room**

Zelda crossed her legs as she sat down in the chair. Veronica was too busy telling the story of her life since she met Zelda to Inspector Cashew. Zelda wanted to laugh at his name, but she knew this wasn't the time or the place. It was only time to be in serious mode. She turned her attention to Veronica as she continued to tell the story.

"...then she turned into Sheik, and then she was like a freak raising hell with a chainsaw. Only she used daggers. I only tried to defend myself. I never hit her once during the attack."

Zelda sighed and shook her head. _Liar, liar. She didn't even mention all the devices and Link and her attacking me. Not like I was expecting her to though. I've lost count on how many lies she's told now. It has to be over a thousand by now. _She saw the Cashew looking at him.

His brown eyes kept a stone, firm look on her. "Is there something you need to share, Miss Harkinian?"

"No, not at the moment," she said simply.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Anyway, before I was _rudely interrupted_**, **she picked up that shovel. You know, the one you found on the crime scene, and she whacked me across the head with it!" Veronica sighed and shrugged. "I don't know what happened after that."

Inspector Cashew helped her out. "Well, you said you got up and called your Dad for assistance and then you two came back up here."

"Oh yes. That's what happened. But what puzzles me is, I don't know what happened to Link."

Master Hand looked at Veronica when that name was mentioned. "Link? He was with you?"

Zelda froze. _Oh no. They're going to find out._

"Yes, I forgot to mention he was up there with me. Zelda was attacking him too." She added. "I do hope he got away." Veronica glared at Zelda. "Or maybe you did something to him."

_I don't know what to say. This is impossible to answer. The only way to answer this is by telling the truth. But my friends told me not to say anything. _Zelda started to get uncomfortable in her chair. Her hands started to tremble.

Veronica looked at Zelda's hands in glee. _I knew it. She's going to confess at any moment._

Inspector Cashew turned to look at Zelda. "Zelda. Do you know where Link is?"

"Where Link is?" Zelda echoed. The inspector nodded. Her whole body start to shake. She was going to crack and she could feel it.

Master Hand looked at the smasher. "Zelda, answer the question please."

She didn't say anything.

Veronica started to get frustrated. "Well?"

Zelda bit her lip. She grabbed her head and let out a small cry. Her vision started to get blurry and then she fell to the floor with a loud thud. There were loud gasps and murmurs surrounding her. She heard a call for a doctor. She could hear Master Hand's voice calling her name.

"Zelda, are you okay?" he called. Master Hand started to feel worried when she didn't move or answer. One of Mr. Walden's doctors came into the room. He kneeled down by her side and grabbed on of her hands to check for a pulse. "She's fine. But she's really pale."

Inspector Cashew looked at Veronica and then at her father. "We're going to hold off on the questioning for a while."

Mr. Walden nodded. "It's for the best."

Veronica's mouth hung open. "But…"

"We'll finish it later, Veronica. Someone get this girl on a bed."

Zelda wanted to smile, but she knew it would blow her cover. _Okay. I'm buying them a little bit of time. But I can't stay like this forever. Hurry up, you guys._

**Upstairs**

Marth didn't know whether he was looking for some clues or just looking for Samus. It was kind of iffy. He wanted to help Samus search so they could talk while they looked, but he guessed Samus would've been a little too preoccupied to talk at this moment and he wouldn't blame her. After all, things were pretty hectic. He passed up several rooms and not looking back. His thoughts were surrounding and choking him. _Just worry about it later. Your friend's future is at stake here. If I don't help in anyway, I know I'm going to feel like I didn't do my part. And I have to do everything in my power to do the best I can to be the most reliable I can be. With Link gone, it's going to be really difficult. _Marth's body shuddered at that name. His best friend was no longer with him. This was the guy who showed him the ropes of SSBM, introduced to some of his friends and he helped Marth get to know Samus better. Even though he hated to admit it, he knew if it wasn't for Link, he and Samus might have not been together at all. _And that's what puzzles me. Why would Link try and break up what he tried so hard to put together? It doesn't make sense at all. Is he a three-timer or is there an even bigger picture to the story?_ Marth was so busy pondering he didn't notice the table sticking out. He rammed his leg right into the table. He let out a small utter of pain and then retained the rest of the pain. He sighed and stopped walking for a minute. He looked up to see Samus coming back around the corner, for she had heard the noise.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine. I'm fine." He muttered. He forgot he was not supposed to bend his arm, so when he used his arms to gain balance he felt the pain again. He was slightly embarrassed for making such a distracting noise. He felt like his face was turning red. "Don't worry about me."

Unlike the last few times, Samus didn't try to hide from him. She stood there and looked at him from head to toe. She moved closer. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Go ahead and keep looking. I don't want to tie you down or anything. You're wasting time hanging around here." Marth said flatly. He watched Samus continued to keep her feet planted to the ground. He felt an interest to know what she was doing. "What's wrong?

"…" Samus was staring at him but she didn't follow the question. "Hmm?" She didn't know why she didn't answer sooner. She was the only one up here Marth could talk to unless he had an imaginary friend. But Samus knew Marth was too mature to have childish things like that.

"Why are you standing there?"

"Oh…well, its just…well… I uh… um…" Samus gritted her teeth. _Come on, Samus. Form a sentence. You always have conversations with him. Since when did you become a shy babe? MAKE SOME WORDS!_ She mentally coached herself. She took a deep breath. "I think it would be better if we…" her voice faded out. "Um… never mind." She started to walk off.

Marth arched an eyebrow. "Search together?"

She flipped back around. "Um, yes." Samus didn't want those words exactly. "Well, we don't have to actually search together… we could just be in the same general area… you know… I mean if something happens we can… we'll be able to..."

Marth thought about what she was trying to say and came up with an answer. "...have each others' back?"

Samus started to blush as she crossed her feet. "But you don't have to if you don't want to. It was just a stupid thought that came in my head." She looked at Marth's cobalt eyes looking at her without emotion. This is what she expected. "I can completely understand. Yes… I'm sure you wouldn't want to do anything like that."

Marth crossed his arms. "On the contrary, it sounds like a good plan to me." Samus looked up at him surprised he agreed. Marth walked up to her. "Yes, after all two heads are better than one. With us two searching together I think we'll get a lot done. It's like smasher synergy in a way." Marth said theoretically.

Samus nodded. "That is true." Her eyes met with his. They both fell silent. Samus thought for a moment she was back months ago when she first met Marth and she was very shy around him. She felt like he was so superior to her. "We should continue searching."

"Mm-hmm." Marth walked in step with Samus, not saying another word as they continued their search for clues.

**Down in the Basement**

Peach flicked on the light. She inspected the light bulb. "No large, black, hairy spider this time." She trotted down the stairs and Roy walked into the doorway.. "If I remember correctly, the cool things I found downstairs were in the back."

Roy leaned against the door. He never noticed how much he and Peach did things together. During this whole trip, he had been spending more time with Peach than he expected he would. In fact, he thought he was never going to do anything with her and didn't take it offensively. Roy expected Peach to spend her whole week with Mario and not even have time for anything… well, if he left out shopping anyway. But Roy actually saw the two Mushroom friends had barely spent anytime together at all. No, this wasn't Roy's problem, but it was a realization that had come to mind.

"Oh my gosh!" Peach exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

Roy lifted himself off the door and came down the stairs. He stood by Peach. "What's up?" he asked quickly. "Anything bad?"

"Yes! It's terrible. Take a look at this!" Peach shoved a piece of fabric in Roy's face. "I just can't believe it!"

Roy squinted at the fabric. It was a familiar shade of pink. "Is that from you dress?" Peach nodded. Roy lowered his eyes. "Excuse me, but what the heck is so important about that!" he said loudly.

"I just so happen to love this dress. And to find out that stupid Hugh knocked me down the stairs and tore my dress in the process just makes me all the more want to wring his neck!" Peach exclaimed.

"You're really unbelievable, Princess. You can care about the littlest things even when you're friends are in peril. You princesses are all alike." Roy continued on. "Shopping and clothes. Clothes and shopping. Make-up and jewelry. Jewelry and Make-up. That's all you ever talk about."

Peach looked at Roy in disbelief. "How dare you say something like that to me! Roy, you don't know me at all. You just love to stereotype people. Especially Princesses in a negative way!" she snapped.

"Listen, I've seen enough princesses to know they all have a glamour-loving snobbish side." Roy lowered his voice. He didn't want anyone to find them down here. "It's natural. You don't have to hide it." Roy almost smirked. but then he saw Peach's stone-hard glare. It was a look Peach had never given him when she was angry with him.

"I hate people like you. You judge me before you even get to know me." Peach looked at Roy's confused face. "For your information, I'm not like other princesses. I may seem all prim and proper but I have my tomboy side. I play sports. I'll get down and dirty and get my hands deep in mud." Roy had taken her to the deep end. "And just so you know, I care deeply about every single one of my friends. If they're in trouble, I'll do anything for them, even if it means sacrificing my life. I'm not some damsel in distress. I'm a warrior at heart. Send me into a battle and I'll work to the best of my abilities." Peach poked her finger hard on Roy's chest plate armor. "You see me as a nurse and a shop-fanatic, so you degrade me and call me an inconsiderate, whiny, pampered, palace princess brat!"

If the Roy could make an even more appalled face, it would look horrible. "Peach…" He started.

Peach cut him off with a wave of her hand. "No! I'm talking and I don't want to hear anymore of your criticism." She still hadn't realized her words were a little tough on the swordsman. "Roy, the truth is I wanted to be your friend. You seemed like a real nice guy. I guess I was stereotyping you too. And was my stereotyping _way_ off?. You're a jerk! I don't know why you're so mean to me. Do you remember how we met?"

"I vaguely remember. You were yapping out loud in the seat behind me and I asked you nicely to quiet down. But you didn't listen."

"Apparently you don't remember what happened. You were rude to me. You told me to shut-up and then started insulting me on the bus. It was so humiliating and embarrassing. Everyone was giving me stares and talking about me the whole day and night!"

"It's not like it did me any good. You talked about me too. I was evaluated after that mishap too."

Peach frowned. "I'm done. I have nothing else to say to you, Roy." She shoved her ripped fabric into her pocket. "I guess I'll have to sew it myself. " She batted her blue eyes repeatedly as she searched the room. "Now, where is it?"

Roy watched her for a while. He didn't say a word as she continued to destroy the basement looking for clues. After a while, he shook his head and laughed. He didn't see Peach instantly flip around. He tried to stop laughing, but it just kept belting out.

"And just what is so funny?" Peach demanded in an asking tone.

Roy stifled his laughter. "I'm sorry ,Peach. It's just… you're such a funny girl."

"Funny girl?" Peach crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"It's just that...you're different from other girls. You can change personalities in a second. You're furious at me one second, and then you're fretting over your dress in the next."

"Okay…" Peach said slightly confused. "And is that good?"

"If you want it to be. I'm just saying. It's a very interesting quality of you. You must keep your boyfriend Mario in stitches." Roy joked.

"He's not my boyfriend. We're just close friends."

"That's news to me. Then again I would expect that. You probably have some rich, handsome, tall, and muscular boyfriend at home."

"Actually I've never met anyone so handsome, that I would want to be their girlfriend." Peach let her hands drop to her sides. "That is until I came here to Nintendo." She said softly.

Roy looked at her with interest. "Really? Who is it then?"

Peach turned a bright red color. "I'm not telling you! That's private!"

"Oh, right, right. Private girl talk. I'm sure, Zel and Sam know all about whoever the guy is." Roy decided. He glanced at Peach for a second while waiting for an answer.

"They don't know who it is either. It's my secret and mine alone." Peach replied.

"Hmm. Must be one special guy." Roy turned around and walked to another side of the room.

Peach touched her warm face. She smiled. _Yes, he's really special. Too bad, it's too difficult to tell him that._

"Hey, Princess!" Peach drifted her eyes over to Roy again. He was looking down at something and scratching his head. "Is this what you were looking for?"

Peach walked over to where Roy was standing. She looked down and gasped. On the ground was a gray and black device. It was shaped like a bracelet but it was longer in length and thicker. It was the size of Samus's blaster and it looked almost exactly like it. "Yes. That little doohickey was kinda suspicious."

Roy crouched down and picked it up. He inspected the device as he spiraled it around in his hands. It was smooth, but hard as rock. It wasn't malleable at all. He stood up and cradled the device in his arms.

Peach looked at it from a distance. "What do you think it is? It looks like it could be a stylish bracelet."

"Well, this is one ugly, stylish bracelet. Come on, let's go take it to Mewtwo. He'll probably know what it is."

**Guest Room**

Zelda braced her eyes shut. She couldn't open them just yet. She decided to buy a little bit more time. The police had moved her to another room and placed her on a bed. At least that's what it felt like. During the time, she didn't make a single sound, indicating she was still unconscious. She heard some murmurs though. She wanted to laugh when she heard Veronica complaining that she was faking. But she kept her composure. And when they inspected her, she did her unconscious role very well. They didn't suspect a thing. Her studies of Peach and her acting skills really paid off. She could hear Master Hand's voice along with Mr. Walden's.

"Master Hand, I don't know whether to just ban the girl and her friends, fire you, or shut down the whole SSBM. This is one of the worst things…"

"I know, Sir. And once again, I'm sorry. I never knew this would happen. Most of the time they are well-mannered and respectful. I don't know why things have suddenly changed. I can understand if you want to fire me."

_No. I can't let this go on. This is all the time I can give you._ Zelda let out a large cough. She repeatedly continued the process in hope of getting the two's attention. She was successful. Master Hand floated by her bed. Zelda slowly opened her eyes. "Unh… Master Hand…I-Is that you?" She said dramatically.

"Yes it is. Do you remember what happened?" He watched Zelda slowly shook her head. He sighed. "You fainted while we were asking you questions. How are you feeling?"

Zelda strained to rise on the bed. "Fine… I guess. I probably should have eaten something this morning. When I miss a meal, I can get really sick. I haven't eaten all day."

"That wasn't a bright move." A new voice said.

Zelda squinted at the doorway to see Inspector Cashew standing by the door. He walked inside. "You can really damage your body when you do that."

"I know. But I was in such a rush this morning." Zelda explained. She coughed again. "I thought it would be okay if I missed just one meal or two."

"Well, now you know it isn't." Mr. Walden snapped. "That was idiotic and foolish!"

"I'm sorry!" Zelda blurted out. She gripped the sheets of the bed tightly. "But it's my birthday today. And when I realized I wouldn't be sharing this wonderful time with my father and Impa…" She sniffed her tears back. "I couldn't bear it. So I left without eating out of depression."_ Yeah, that will do. I think they'll buy that story._

"Walden, give her a break. You're going to give her another headache." Cashew said as he sat in the chair in front of Zelda. "Now Miss Harkinian, will you be able to tell me your side of the story?"

"Well…it's faint, but I can remember some parts of the story. I just hope I can tell you without fainting again.

"Don't worry about it, Zelda. Just tell us nice and slowly."

Zelda nodded. "Okay." _With pleasure._

Inspector Cashew rubbed his chin. "But for safety measures. Maybe you should eat something. Mr. Walden, can you have your cook prepare something."

"Um…yes. I'll see if he's here." He left the room quickly.

Zelda sighed and relaxed herself on the bed. She didn't know how much longer she could stall.

**Back Upstairs**

Samus opened the desk. Nothing important. Just like everything else. Right next to her was a large bedroom. And by the looks of the name engraved on the side of the door. It was Garrett's room. She sighed and leaned against the desk. There was no point in looking anywhere. Veronica had cleaned the house and made sure she left no clues. She let out an aggravated cry. _This is a disaster. If we don't find something soon, we're really going to mess things up for Zelda. And I can't let that happen. Maybe Marth found something._ Samus looked up from the desk in the hall at Marth. He was busy checking another desk in the hallway. They hadn't said anything to each other ever since they agreed to search together. Not like she was expecting him too. She wasn't even expecting him to agree on searching together, but he did anyway. Why? She had no idea.

She parted her lips. "So…" she said loudly and clearly. "Did you find anything?"

Marth stopped searching the desk. He didn't look at her. "No. Nothing but a bunch of office supplies and papers. What about you?"

"I found some business cards with Mr. Walden's numbers on them. But maybe it might be a little bit useful." She looked over at Marth. "Is there a paper cutter in that drawer?"

"Well…" Marth spotted it right away. "Yes. Here it is." Marth picked it up and carried it over to Samus. He handed it to her. "Here you go."

Samus took it. "Thanks." She laid her fingers on the papers divided into columns of business cards. She used her right hand to start cutting the cards in straight lines. There was a silence while she did this, but she could feel Marth's presence behind her.

Marth decided to break the ice. "You know. You really worried me back there, Samus." He noticed she didn't turn around. But he continued. "When you had that device on you I mean. I thought the device would never malfunction."

Samus concentrated on her cutting. "Mm-hmm. Me too. Since yours sucked into your head, I thought you were going to die. But your strong will helped you break free."

Marth shook his head. "No, it wasn't that. There was only one thing I was thinking about."

Samus looked at Marth through the corner of her eye. He was looking directly at her. "I started to remember the good times I've had since I came to Nintendo. I've had some good memories here. But I think the best one I've had was meeting you, Samus."

Samus felt her heart stop for a moment. "No. I'm sure you've had better."

Marth sighed. "No. I could only think of you and that smile you gave me the first time I talked to you. The thought of never seeing it again...that's what kept me going." Samus felt him getting closer. "You're the reason I'm still here."

The thought of Marth being right behind Samus made her jump. In doing this, she tilted the paper cutter to its side and accidentally cut alongside her finger. She let out a small cry of pain and tossed the cutter away from her hand. She grabbed her finger quickly. The blood was gushing from the wound. She winced in pain.

Marth looked at Samus clutching her finger. "Your finger."

She tried to hide it from him. "It's fine," she said quietly.

Marth looked at her hand again before hatching an idea. He grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and tore off some of the material. He looked at it and concluded it was big enough. He turned Samus around to face him.

"What are you…"

Marth gently grabbed her hand and looked at it. The blood started to drip onto his gloved hand, but he paid no heed. He took the fabric he ripped off his outfit and wrapped it around Samus's injured finger. He applied pressure to it for five seconds. Samus kept her eyes on her hand in his. After applying enough pressure, he tied the fabric securely around the finger. He kept the fabric from getting loose by making a thick knot. He looked at the finger. "There. It should be fine now."

"…" Samus looked at him. She grabbed her finger as Marth let go of her hand. "You don't have to baby me like this."

Marth chuckled. "Well, if you weren't so reckless all the time. Anyway, we better continue the search." Marth turned around and looked back at the desk he was looking in.

"Marth."

Marth turned around. "Yes?"

"Thank you. For doing that."

Marth's face fell flat. "It's not a problem. No point in carrying a bloody finger around, right? I'm going to check on Mewtwo and the others. " He left without another word.

Samus crossed her arms. _I can't think of a word to say to him. What is he expecting from me? I hope not an apology because I'm not. It's not that I know for a fact that I'm right about him attacking me or not, but the fact that none of this is making sense. I remember right before Garrett put that mind-controlling device on me, he told me he was the one who attacked me in the woods on Serine Isle. But how could he possibly be the one who did it? I believe it was Marth's physical appearance I saw that evening. So what did he do? Did he dye his hair and did he get blue contacts or something? I guess so. But then something else occurs to me. If he loves me like he supposedly says he does, why would he try and hurt me? And something else bugs me. If he is supposed to be on Veronica's side why did he give me that device yersterday… Wait a second. It's all coming together. I just have to check something._

She walked back over to the room she identified as Garrett's. It was closed shut. She took a deep breath and opened the door. The door made a loud squeak. She walked inside and checked the room. She saw the large bed right away and in the bed was the sleeping Garrett. She walked over to the bed, not caring how much noise she was making, and stopped right in front of his bed. He didn't stir a bit while he was resting on his back. Samus watched his chest rise up and down for a while before having a feeling of doubting herself. _I better be right about this._ She decided to get it over with.

She shook him roughly. "Garrett, get up!"

Garrett didn't stay asleep for another minute. He jumped forward and Samus stepped back as he abruptly raised his head from his pillow. He started to catch his breath.

Samus didn't move and stood strong.

When he's breathing returned back to normal, he spoke. "Where the heck am I?" He looked directly at Samus. "Samus, what are you doing here?"

"You invited me here, remember?" Samus said quietly. "And then you and your friends Ace, Jay, Hugh, and Moe trapped me and my friends here. Plus, you locked my friends in a freezer."

"What?"

"Then you were hitting on me when you knew I had a boyfriend. And then you put a mind-controlling device on me so I can love only you and then you tried to use me to do your dirty work. You made me place the new modeled device on Marth."

Garrett sat straight up in his bed. He looked very baffled. "Okay… so I did what now?"

Samus sighed and looked deep into his purple eyes. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

He shrugged. "Last thing I remember is taking you back to the resort, then I met up with my sister, and that's it. At least I think" he replied.

Samus bit her lip. She looked at Garrett. She looked at his hair hanging alongside his neck. "Lift your hair for a second."

"Um… sure." Garrett pulled his hair up. And there it was. Samus saw the mind-controlling device right away. "What for?"

Samus sighed and sat down on the bed. She found a glass of water by his bed and handed it to him "Here." He grabbed the glass gratefully and started to drink it. Samus spoke again. "Garrett. What did your sister want you for yesterday?"

"I don't remember. No… wait. I was the one who saw her. I followed her and then something happened before I… I can't remember what it was." He fell silent. He looked at Samus questionably. "What's going on?"

"Your dad and Veronica are trying to expel Zelda for good. Things have reached the extreme." Samus answered.

He let out a yawn. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No. You may be more trouble than assistance. Just stay in here and rest." Samus answered.

He rubbed his eyes. "No. This is my job, Samus. I'm came here to check on my sister, remember? I'm here to keep her sane." His voice was monotonic.

"Well, she's not really attacking anyone right now, so you're not needed." Samus was cut off by Garrett's loud yawn. "Besides you look very tired." Garrett didn't respond. His eyes were slowly drooping Samus looked him straight in the face. "Are you okay?" Garrett didn't respond. He fell straight back onto his pillow. Samus stared at him crazy as she heard him let out big snores. She frowned. "Those doctors must have really drugged him. Oh well." She got off the bed and tossed the blanket over his whole body except his head. "I have enough information. Gotta find Zelda." Samus gave herself a tiny leap as she started to run out of the room.

**Lab Room**

"Mewtwo!"

Mewtwo looked from the computer over to the open door. Pichu let out a small chirp of glee when she saw her friends. Roy and Peach hurried inside with an item in Roy's hands. "What's going on?"

"Not much. But we did find this bracelet-like-thing in the basement." Peach pointed at the item in Roy's hands.

"Actually it's more like Samus' blaster." Roy debated.

Mewtwo looked at the item. "It's really odd. I'll have to take time to inspect it."

"Well, I hope not too much time." Roy said while shifting the device into his left arm. " How's the information on those devices holding out?"

"It's going well actually. I found papers on them and everything. I found out how they were made and what they do. Oh yes, Peach? That perfume you have has deadly chemicals in it."

Peach gasped. "They do? And I've been using this since like…forever!"

"Fortunately." Mewtwo said. "They're only deadly to the devices and who's ever connected to them gets infected by the chemicals too. But they do not die."

"Oh. I see. That explains a lot. No wonder all of Garrett's buddies didn't die after being sprayed." Peach placed her hands on her hips. "Yes, that does make sense. Did you find anything else out?"

"Not at this time. But I may find more information later. This computer is very knowledgeable in every subject and creation."

Pichu hopped up onto the computer desk and looked at the device in Roy's hands. Roy tapped his hands against the mysterious item. "Good. Then the computer can figure out, what's up with this weird little thing." He started fiddling around with the buttons. His finger fell on a black switch. "I mean what does it…"

Peach saw Roy's hand on the button. "Roy, don't!"

Roy didn't react quick enough to Peach's plea. His fingers flipped on the black switch. The odd device lit up and made odd noises. The sounds roared in the smashers' ears. The device started to shake in Roy's already trembling hands. He didn't let go of it. Pichu looked at it, very amused by the yellow glow that was forming in the device.

Mewtwo saw it. "Pichu, get out of the way!"

Too late. The device shot the yellow beam right at Pichu. It directly hit the yellow Pokémon. Pichu let out a yell as she fell off the computer desk and onto the floor.

Peach screamed. "Pichu!"

Roy and Mewtwo stared at what just happened. They couldn't believe their eyes.

**Meanwhile…**

Zelda sat down in her chair and sighed. She had eaten her food and she was full. She was back in her seat where she had fainted. But now she felt much better. She kept her eyes on Inspector Cashew, looking over his notes on his notepad. They were notes from Veronica's story. Zelda watched him look over them a couple times. Sometimes he would make noises or he would scratch his chin. He would bite his pencil or make scribbles on his notepad. Mr. Walden and Veronica were sitting in chairs diagonal from Zelda and Master Hand was quietly hovering over all of them. The ten minutes of silence were slowly killing Zelda . Before Zelda felt like she was going to keel over again out of boredom, he looked up from his notes. She sat straight up in her chair, ready for the discussion.

Cashew sighed. "Okay, Zelda. Why don't you tell us your side of the story?"

Zelda nodded. "Okay. Well I don't remember what day of the week it was, but my friend Samus and I were sitting in the cafeteria. My other friend Peach came by and introduced Veronica to us. She seemed nice …_ then._" She shifted her eyes over at Veronica. Veronica stuck up her nose and scowled. She continued. "But after a day or two, I started to see her true nature. The first thing she did was threaten me to stay away from my friend, Link. She said she gets what she wants and she wanted Link. I thought she was joking so I paid no heed to her. But I found out later she meant it. So I don't have to go into the big details, I'll just tell you how she tried to keep her word." Zelda explained all the threats with vivid images and concrete expressions. She left out no small detail. Mr. Cashew listened in awe, but he continued to write notes down in his notepad. She could see Veronica getting angrier by the minute and her father's face was unreadable. There was one subject she did avoid. She kept the story of the mountain war to herself, hoping she wouldn't be asked about it. She knew she probably would, but she hoped a miracle would occur before the question would come up.

"And so…" Zelda concluded. "She's never stopped harassing me since then." Zelda crossed her arms. "And I have never done a single thing to her."

After Zelda's last statement, there was a long silence. Master Hand was frozen in time. Zelda knew this was going to be a major shock to him. But he would've had to know sooner or later. She relaxed her shoulders but kept her appropriate posture. Her hands felt sweaty, but she ignored it. She looked back at Inspector Cashew. "And that's my whole story."

"Well…" the inspector said shortly after. "Your story clashes with Veronica's. She told me what you did to her, you told me vice versa. And it seems Link was mentioned in each of the stories." Zelda didn't respond to the comment. "It seems to me, you both have a crush on this boy, right?"

Veronica nodded. "I do." She looked back at Zelda.

Zelda bit her lip. "Yes, I did love him."

"What do you mean _did _love him?" Cashew asked her. "Where is this boy now?"

Zelda looked up. This was the question he asked earlier before she pretended to faint. There was no way to get out of this. She would have to answer. "I..." she fell silent.

Cashew cocked an eyebrow. "Veronica said she was attacked by you when you turned into your alter ego form Sheik. You also attacked Link. Correct?"

"No… it was not… not intended to be like that. She tricked me into coming up there and then she attacked me first. Plus she hit my friend, Mewtwo." Zelda elaborated. "She had a shovel with her and she rammed it into my leg and almost fractured my ankle."

"But she didn't try to kill you with knives and then drop your down a mountain!" Mr. Walden snapped.

"Mr. Walden, I'll handle this." Cashew said. "All that is true. Veronica called her father from the mountains and told him what happened. She wasn't fully unconscious yet, and she felt the impact of the fall."

_And that doesn't make any sense. That was at least a 100 foot or more drop.__ She would have died. _Zelda thought to herself.

"Zelda, did you attack Veronica?" Cashew said.

Zelda looked at everyone. She had never felt so miserable. She lowered her head and nodded. "Yes."

Cashew rubbed his chin. "Did you throw her off the mountain?"

Zelda looked at the door. No one was coming. She sighed. "Yes, sir."

Veronica was looking quite pleased. _Everything is going great._

Cashew sighed. "I hate to hear such things like this from a girl like you, Zelda. Master Hand talks fondly of you."

Zelda looked at Master Hand. She couldn't tell, but if he had eyes, he would not be looking at her. She brushed some of her blonde hair behind her ears. _Master Hand… I am so sorry._

Cashew opened his mouth again. "Did you attack Link?"

Zelda couldn't take these questions. They were tearing her apart bit by bit like a pack of wolves. "Yes, I did." She heard some gasps, but she shut her eyes in response.

"Zelda, what happened to Link?" It was Cashew's final question.

Memories started to flow through Zelda's head. They went back to the whole scene. Link and Zelda alone in the mountains after the dispatching of Veronica. She remembered plunging the knife into Link. The blood. The horrid memories staining her white gloves. The grave on top of the mountain with Link buried under the soil. She looked up. This was it. It was all over. She opened her mouth slowly. "Link… what happened to Link is…"

"Hey! You can't go in there!"

She heard the murmur of voices behind her. They were the sounds of the guards.

Before Zelda could question what was going on, she heard the door of the banquet room squeak open. Someone walked in slowly with heavy footsteps. Zelda looked at Veronica and saw her hand covered over her mouth. Master Hand and Mr. Walden looked shocked. Zelda turned around and thought she would faint right then and there. Before her eyes was a familiar face. There were cuts across his face and some were bleeding. His clothes had blood splotches all over them, there was blood dropping from open cuts.

Zelda stood up as her eyes widened in disbelief. "L…Link?" she stuttered.

It was the Hero of Time, Link. He was hunched over and leaning on his sword for support. But unlike most of the time, the boy had lost his normally calm nature and was looking furious. He looked like he was on the verge of hurting someone. He glared angrily and slowly opened his mouth to speak in a dangerous tone. "Where…are…they?"

**A/N: AAAAAAHHHHH! WHAT WILL I THINK OF NEXT! I'm probably going to make you guys really wonder now. This is why this chapter received the name "Beyond Belief" And this is only part one. Which means there's more to come. I promise you, there are only two chapters left. No more… no less. Well nothing else to say except… review please. I might post another chapter before my birthday next month or even earlier. Depends….. **


	22. Beyond Belief Part II

**Well, hello again. I'm back and I'm older. I am officially seventeen years old. Which means taking the car out for joy rides! Nah! My mom would kill me. Well here's the chapter you've all have been waiting for. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 22**

**Beyond Belief Part II**

Zelda uttered her next word in hope. "Link?"

Link turned to Zelda at the sound of his name. He could barely keep his balance. "Zelda." He didn't utter another word. He lost all feeling in his legs, but he kept his sword up straight. Blood was dripping from his knees to the floor slowly. He was taking heavy heaves of air into his lungs. Veronica frowned at Zelda beating her to the point of getting his attention. She almost responded out loud about what just happened but Cashew was first to speak.

"Who is this?" Inspector Cashew said angrily. "This is a private case!"

"Its Link, Inspector." Veronica said still slightly mad.

"This… is Link?" he replied.

Master Hand spoke up. "It is, Inspector. She isn't lying."

Inspector Cashew sighed. "But isn't he the one who was supposedly attacked by this girl?" He pointed to Zelda.

Zelda would have made a remark but she was too mesmerized by Link's sudden appearance. _How did he survive? I know I killed him. I had his blood on my dagger and everything. Did the goddesses save him? But what is wrong with his face? I can feel great pain within his heart. But who is it against? Is it against me because I tried to kill Veronica? Was he actually awake when I stabbed him?_

"Yes, he is. Look at what state he is in. If that isn't attacking someone, then I don't know what is. She attacked Link right after I fell." Veronica crossed her arms in satisfaction.

"She didn't do anything to me." Link said. "Someone attacked me in the mountains."

"What?" Zelda was surprised. "Link. Don't you remember what happened up on the mountains earlier?

Link ignored her question. "I was going to meet Zelda up in the mountains after I called her and told her happy birthday. On my way up, somebody suddenly ambushed me. He tackled me and kicked me back down the mountain. When we were tussling down the mountain, he was slashing me and cutting me open. I couldn't get him off of me. Then he tried to drown me in the water, but he stopped all of a sudden and ran away. He never came back after that."

"None of that happened." Zelda said to Link. "You-"

Link cut her off as if she was never speaking. "I was left out there. And that's why I'm cut up like this."

Inspector Cashew tilted his head. "That's some story. Did you happen to see the attacker's face at all?"

Link shook his head. "No. He was trying to prevent me from seeing his face. I thought when he pushed my head in the river I could see his reflection, but I only saw mine." He answered. He struggled to stand up all the way.

"But didn't this girl right here attack you?" Cashew looked at Zelda again.

Link looked at Zelda and she looked at him. His eyes were looking at her as if inspecting her.

_He knows. _Zelda thought. _He knows it was me who attacked him and now he's going to turn me in. It's only fair after what I did. My mind can't take this tragic nightmare anymore. If he doesn't say anything, then I will._

Veronica stopped the question with a claim of her own. "I didn't do anything to, Zelda." she said. "Why would I? All I ever did was admire her."

"That's what your diary says. But you never ever really meant it." Zelda crossed her arms. "I read how you couldn't wait to come to the SSBM mansion so you could meet your idol."

"Well, let me tell you. You're not admirable anymore!" Veronica spat.

"Oh, how terrible." Zelda said sarcastically. "Like I really care!"

"Girls, stop!" Mr. Walden shouted. "This is not the time. Can we just hurry up and finish this case? I have other things to do. And it's pretty obvious to see that Zelda pushed Veronica off the cliff, right? That's pretty good grounds for an expulsion."

"That is true. She did admit to attacking Veronica." The inspector was looking back through his notes. He came across the page of the story of notes he wrote down when Zelda was telling her side of the story. "I have it written down for remembrance right here. And there isn't a clearance for Zelda's story since she has no evidence right?"

Zelda sighed. Link was not being a large sum of help since he was ignoring her. She shook her head. "No, I do not have any."

"Yes, she does." Said a voice from outside of the room. The door opened again and this time Samus came in and skidded to halt on the carpet. "She has all she needs."

Zelda looked relieved. "Samus, you're finally here."

"Sorry, I'm late. I wanted a dramatic entrance." Samus looked directly at Link. "I thought I was hallucinating, when I saw a familiar person with big ears go through the door." She smiled. "You're really alive, Elf Boy."

Link smirked. "Come on, Bounty Girl. Think about it. If I wasn't alive, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you, would I?" He replied.

Samus rolled her eyes and then she looked at his condition. "What happened?"

"Excuse me, Miss Aran, but what are you doing in here? This is a case between Zelda, Veronica, and apparently now Link. There's no need for you to be here." Walden spoke up.

"Why not? I was there during most of the time Zelda was being threatened by her. I should be allowed to be here as a witness."

"Well, Veronica doesn't have any witnesses does she?" Mr. Walden replied.

"Actually, you're her witness. You keep adding onto Veronica's story, don't you?" Samus asked.

"Yes, but still…"

Samus interrupted him. "That's witnessing." She looked at Cashew. "Right, Inspector? Back me up on this one."

Cashew scratched his head. "Well she is right. So I guess Zelda can have her as a witness. It's only fair."

"But what is she witnessing to?" Veronica said. "There's nothing she can prove. I didn't do a single thing to her. So what are you going to say?"

Zelda knew Veronica was right. _It's just not fair. On the mountain earlier, Veronica admitted everything. She claimed all those bad things happening to me were her doing. And now she's acting like a perfect little angel and I can't say anything because she's got a story for everything, so Mr. Walden and now the inspector and even Master Hand are buying into the story. I can't think of anything. She's always one step ahead of me._

"Well, let's see." Samus said quietly. "Zel, did Veronica say anything to you on the mountain earlier? Like anything revealing perhaps?"

Zelda nodded. "She admitted to doing all the traps, attacks, and threats she committed to me. That's all though. I don't know how that's going to help." she ended.

Samus smirked. "Oh, it helps out a lot." She looked at Zelda's waist. "Zelda, where's the birthday present I gave you?" She looked puzzled, but then her eyes fell on something further across the floor. "There it is." She mumbled to herself. She walked away from the door and closer to an empty chair. She looked under it and pulled out Zelda's belt. "Aha!" She picked it up. "Here are your answers to everything."

Link looked dumbfounded. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a belt?"

"You're right, Link. It is a belt. A regular ole expensive belt. But one thing Zelda didn't know is..." She put her hand on one of the green jewels of the belt. She pulled it off easily. "One of these is not a real jewel. This little item is a device."

Veronica looked at it. "Yeah, and what does it do?"

Before she could respond, the door opened again and it revealed Marth, Roy, Peach, and Mewtwo. They all stopped at the sight of Link. A whole bunch of questions were thrown at Link when they saw he was alive. Link brushed off all the questions. "I'm fine you, guys… really. Everything will be made clear soon."

"What is this madness!" Walden exclaimed. "You all were supposed to stay put in the room."

"We have the right to give our say. We were there during all this chaos." Roy replied. Mewtwo, Peach, and Marth nodded.

"They do need to be here, Walden." Cashew said quietly. "After all, they can tell us what they did to your son and his friends."

"Yes. You all really damaged my home and attacked some very admirable people." Walden said. "That doesn't go well on your records."

"Forget them. Daddy, I can't possibly be held here any longer listening to this guilty girl anymore. She can't be let out of this room to ruin someone else's life. Besides what can you contribute to this case that we don't already know?" Veronica was referring to the other smashers.

Link smirked. "It doesn't matter if they do or do not. I have all I need. Veronica, you remember the day we were at the festival and your father was saying his speech?"

Veronica shrugged. "Yeah, I recall that. So what?"

"Your father took a brief moment to talk about you and your brother Garrett. I remember your father saying something about you. He said you were into the science field like testing on animals and dealing with human genetics. Plus other scientific inventions."

"Okay… I remember that. But what's your point?" Veronica replied.

"You built those mind controlling devices. And that's why all this is happening."

"Mind controlling devices? I've heard of no such thing." She denied it without falter. "The thought of me using technology to control someone is sick."

"You did make them." Samus said. "You used one on Garrett, Ace, Moe, Hugh, and Jay. And then Garrett put one on me and then he made me put one on Marth and it almost killed him. How can you deny such a thing?"

"You even told me that while we were on the mountain." Zelda added.

"Don't worry about it, Zel. She doesn't have to confess if she doesn't want to. The evidence we have will tell all." Samus explained.

"Yeah right." Veronica muttered under her breath.

Link pulled himself up to stand straight. He was aching in pain. Marth saw this and grabbed the nearby chair and put it by Link. Link nodded to him in an appreciable manner and slowly sat down in the chair. "It's all a big illusion. All of it. I figured it out after my attacker left. All these things that have been happening to Zelda, Samus, Marth, and me, possibly even Mewtwo. It was all set up by…" He raised a finger at Veronica. "You."

"Again, what are you talking about? I haven't done anything to you guys. Zelda is the one. She…"

"Although I hate to say this. I did once believe you, Veronica. When I first met you, you seemed so innocent and you looked like you wouldn't cause any trouble. But I found it all out. It all makes sense now." Link looked over at Samus. "Sam. What happened earlier on Serine Isle never happened."

Samus' eyes rose in size and Zelda did the same. "What… what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Remember what happened on Serine Isle? The whole little scene when we supposedly kissed?" Link replied to her confusion.

Samus knew what he meant. She crossed her arms in a nervous manner. "Is that true?" she said quietly.

Link nodded. "Yes. It's hard to believe, but all of us have been tricked. Veronica made it seem like some of the current events that have been happening really happened. Were we ever wrong..."

"Really? I caused whatever argument you four had?" Veronica said, referring to Zelda, Marth, Samus, and Link. She brushed a hand through her thick black hair. "Are you sure you didn't receive a concussion from that beating you took?"

Whatever love Veronica had for Link, it wasn't showing at the current moment. Before Link could respond, Zelda beat him to the chase. "Forget her. Continue, Link."

Mr. Walden frowned. "Can we please get to a point? What you're trying to say is you think that some of the recent problems between you and your friends were caused by my daughter?" He watched Link nod. "You keep going around in circles. What are you trying to say ,Link?"

Link looked at Roy. "Roy, I think that you know the answer since you and Peach found that device down in the basement right? Since you know what it does; you'll know what's been really going on."

Roy puzzled at first, started to think. Then he put two and two together and figured it out. "Ah!" Roy looked in his hands at the device he found earlier. "I see. Veronica used this machine to make clones of all of us."

Marth and Samus gasped in sync. Master Hand once again, froze. Inspector Cashew dropped both his pencil and his notepad. Mr. Walden had turned a pale color along with Veronica. Link, Peach, and Mewtwo were the only ones not to doubt Roy's comment. Zelda's eyes widened. "Oh Nayru. You cannot be serious." she said in disbelief.

"It's the truth, Zelda. This makes clones. And I'll prove it." Roy opened the door to the room. "Come in Pichu." There was an awkward silence for a moment. And then all of a sudden, Pichu poked her head in the door. Her eyes fell on everyone in the room. She didn't budge her paws from the door as she looked at Roy. Roy nodded. "It's okay."

Pichu nodded and walked inside on her two legs. And when they saw what was behind her, there were a few gasps. Clutching onto Pichu's tail was another identical Pichu. The clone Pichu looked scared as it entered the room. Marth looked down at the clone Pichu. "Is that really a clone?" The clone looked at Marth. It stared for a good five seconds before a smile formed on its face. It let out a small chirp of affection before leaping up at Marth. Marth wasn't expecting this, but he caught the Pokémon in his hands. The clone Pichu nuzzled its head against his chest. "Kind of affectionate."

"Well, they follow the personality of whoever they're cloned from. Otherwise it wouldn't be a replica." Peach explained. "Anyway, Roy just proved a point here. This is how it was done. Veronica used a cloning machine. There's no getting around it."

Link nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

Mr. Walden looked at Veronica. "Honey, did you really use that device on them?"

Veronica gasped. "Dad, listen to what you're saying. I would never use something as ridiculous as that. Why would I care about their petty little problems? They're none of my concern. And I don't know how they found that in our house. I've never invented anything like that."

"But you're saying you can invent things right?" Mewtwo said calmly.

"No."

Mewtwo gave her a mild glance. "Didn't you just say you were inventor?"

Veronica bit her lip. "Stop trying to confuse me! All you guys are doing are messing with my head. Those clones have nothing to do with what we're talking about here. I mean even if I did create those little clones, it wouldn't be a crime."

Zelda placed her hands to her sides. "It is. My friends didn't do anything to you and you made those clones to wreck our friendships and lives."

"Zelda, you seriously have no idea what you're talking about. For your statement to be true, I would've had to make the clones and for about the third time, I'll tell you all that I did nothing of the sort." Veronica's head was spinning. _These smashers are giving me a major headache. One more wisecrack or accusation and I might just snap! _"And," She continued. She looked at Zelda as she walked over to her and stopped about two feet in front of her. "You have bigger things to worry about. You attacked me on the mountain in attempt to kill me."

Zelda was going to think of something witty to say, but Samus cut her off. "She doesn't have to worry about that anymore." Samus had a confident look on her face as she placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "Her name is already cleared."

"Cleared!" Walden said. "Bah! That's just ludicrous. The girl already admitted to attacking Veronica on the mountain. Then she admitted that she threw my daughter over the mountain to kill her. That's more than enough incidents to be banished from Super Smash Brothers Melee. No wait. I'm thinking too little. That's more than enough to be kicked out of Nintendo itself and be sent back home!" He spat.

"I must say I'm a little interested myself, Miss Aran, to know what you have in store for us." Inspector Cashew commented.

"Well, before everyone came inside, I was in the middle of telling everyone about this device." Samus held up the small magnetic item.

Marth looked at Samus' little device as he successfully took the clone Pichu off his hair and held it tightly in his arms. "What is that exactly?"

Master Hand looked at Samus. "Please explain, Samus."

Samus blew her blonde bangs out of her face. "It's a tiny little microphone. Garrett had given it to me yesterday, the day of Zelda's fight with Veronica. He wanted me to use it to catch Veronica in the act of her crimes. So it's been recording every little thing going on during the past hours. To be more specific, ever since I gave the belt to Zelda this morning, it has been recording everything that has been going on up to this point."

"Wait." It was Zelda who was speaking. "So, all this time I've had it with me, everything that has been going on, even at this very moment is being recorded?" she asked. She watched Samus nod. "Then that means what happened on the mountain…"

"…is right here on that device." Link finished her sentence.

Samus reached into her pocket and pulled out her small computer. She flipped it onto its side and opened a slit in the computer. She placed the device inside of the tiny door and then closed it. She flipped the computer right side up and started to type on the keypad. "Just have to enter a few things and…" she pressed a button slowly. There was a loud beep noise. Zelda could hear audible sounds coming out from Samus' computer. She could hear the conversation Veronica and Zelda had on the mountain.

"**_You know when I first got to the mansion I liked you, Princess. I was excited to see you. Yes, my brother Garrett told me all about it. But he got rid of all that evidence and now you're like an empty well with no water."_**

"**_I'm surprised you would try and kill your idol." _**

"**_Hmph. I think you read my diary when I said you used to be my idol. But that's when I found out you're just a boyfriend stealer like Katy."_**

"**_Katy didn't even steal your boyfriend because that boy Curtis wasn't even your boyfriend. And Link wasn't yours either. That was no reason to kill her."_**

"**_She deserved it. She's been ruining my life for years. I couldn't let her keep destroying my dreams all my life and you're not going to either. You can go the same way as Katy and this time you won't be coming back. Ever since the start of my crimes you've been escaping everything. After I threatened you, I thought you would give in since you're such a weak girl. But you kept on cuddling with Link. Then I decided to shred the terrible green dress you're wearing which seems you were able to put back together. But that didn't work either. So I embarrassed you in front of your friends so Link would come to my aid and make you think you didn't stand a chance with him but apparently that wasn't enough. As for Samus, she was just getting in the way, so why not kill off the extra baggage?"_**

"**_She didn't even do anything to you."_**

"**_Didn't care. I just didn't like her attitude. Now stop interrupting. I stopped for a while to see if my plans worked but you got Link under your wing on that plane. So that's where the fire kicked in. But you just had to live, didn't you? Oh yes. And don't think I didn't know it was you who used that blasted magic of yours to knock me into the pool. Who else could it be since everyone thinks I'm so great? And then finally I was the one who got you in trouble with Master Hand when I pulled the fire alarm and all the alarms went off. Brilliant aren't I?"_**

"**_You didn't even mention all the other things you did. Like the breaking up with my friends and making Link turn on me."_**

"**_Well, I figured that you would know that I did all of those things. Or are you really that dumb of a blonde?"_**

"**_I just want to know why you have to kill all your enemies? There are other ways to handle conflicts."_**

"**_You're right. That's exactly what my psychiatrist said. He said I needed to use the triple A's. Analyze, Assess, and Act. And I did. I analyzed the situation, assessed that the problem was you, and now I'm acting, by ending your life today."_**

"**_Whatever. You think you have everything together don't you?"_**

"**_I do actually. It's all together."  
_**  
Another part of the conversation started, but Samus shut the little device off. She looked up at Zelda and everyone else who was staring in shock. She sighed in satisfaction. "I guess that just about sums up most of this crisis."

Link was shocked at first, but then he smirked as he turned to Samus._ Nice move, Bounty Girl. Way to make this story come to an end._

Samus caught his gaze and nodded in understanding what he wanted to say. Marth was looking pleased with the new evidence, smiling at Samus with approval. Peach and Roy looked like they were going to start laughing in success. And lastly, Zelda looked like she was going to shout for joy. Zelda wanted to run up to Samus and hug her. But she kept her maturity and distance. She looked over at Veronica. Veronica's face was emotionless and unreadable. Zelda guessed that Veronica knew there was nothing else she could do. Zelda felt a small smile form on her lips. This battle was over. Inspector Cashew didn't even bother writing this down in his notepad. His chocolate brown eyes were fixed on Veronica's father. "I recognized Zelda's voice in that conversation. That was your daughter's voice in that taking, wasn't it?"

Mr. Walden was quiet for a moment. But then he spoke. "Yes… it was. Unfortunately. Veronica, what's going on here?" He demanded sternly.

Veronica eyes grew. "Daddy, please listen to me. I can explain. I…I…" Veronica couldn't think of anything to say. She didn't want her father to ever find out and now…

Mr. Walden walked dangerously over to his daughter. "Did you really do all those other things!"

"I…" Veronica was breaking down in tears. She jerked her head as she nodded. "I did. Yes! I DID IT OKAY!" She shouted.

Link looked appalled. Not by Veronica admitting the truth. But the way she was doing it. She was sobbing in tears.

Mr. Walden shook his head. "I can't believe this," he muttered.

"Daddy, I really am sorry." Veronica dropped to her knees.

"I just don't understand why you did it." Mr. Walden said.

Zelda crossed her arms. "I do." She muttered under her breath.

"I didn't know what else to do. My emotions overpowered me." She looked over at Link. "I admit I've had a crush on Link for a long time. And when I heard you were going to take me to the mansion, I was excited. And then when I saw Link, I thought maybe I would get him to like me and then he would become my boyfriend." She shifted her eyes over to Zelda. "And then _she _appeared. I knew how close she was to Link. I shouldn't have interfered but I wanted Link so badly, that I was willing to do anything." She lowered her head. "And I mean _anything_. I didn't want you to find out Daddy, because I knew you would be upset."

"But you blamed an innocent person." Mr. Walden said. He sounded like he was this kind person all of a sudden, knowing now that he had made a mistake. "Zelda has gone through much because of you. Not to mention her friends."

"Look, I didn't do anything to any of her friends except Samus. That's it. And the tape already cleared that up. I did not make clones."

"Do you really expect me to believe you now? Veronica, I can't even tell if you're honestly talking to me now." Mr. Walden replied. "When is the truth going to be recognizable?"

Zelda stood over by Link. She rested her hands on one of his shoulders. The cloned Pichu got free from Marth and made its way over to Zelda. It sat right by her dress and started tugging at it.

Veronica wiped her tears away. "Daddy, please forgive me. I know you may never trust me again, but you have to believe me. I wouldn't do anything like that. I did make the mind controlling devices though. I made them and put one on Garrett. And then Garrett put some on his friends and it went downhill from there. But I didn't try to make clones. Clones are one of the worse things to ever be created by anyone. They can become heartbroken if not well taken care of. I would never want to see that kind of suffering."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "I doubt it. Why would you care about anyone but yourself?"

Link looked at Veronica. Link then looked back at Zelda. Something was bugging him and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He was glad Veronica was finally in trouble for her actions and glad that he finally saw the light. But if all things are at peace, what was wrong?

Samus crossed her arms and stepped back next to Roy and Peach. She leaned over to Peach's ear. "Can you believe this is actually happening? I thought this day would never come." She whispered.

"I know." Peach whispered back without taking her eyes off Veronica. "It's pretty amazing. Am I dreaming?"

"Well, if you are, you and I are having the same dream." Samus replied softly.

Inspector Cashew looked at Mr. Walden. "Well, Sir. I don't know what to say. She's confessed to the crime. So, I guess I will have to take in both girls."

"Both of them? Why?" Master Hand exclaimed. He looked at the shocked smashers' faces.

Inspector Cashew looked at Zelda. "Well, she still is responsible for attacking Veronica and throwing her off the mountain, right? Veronica may have been the cause of most of the trouble, but what Zelda did to her on that mountain still remains true."

"Hey! That's not fair!" Link exclaimed. "It wasn't her fault!" Link felt his shoulder being gripped softly. He looked up at Zelda. She looked down at him and shook her head, indicating to him to forget about it. "But Zelda..."

Zelda sighed. "That really happened. I have to pay the penalty for it."

"No, she doesn't."

Zelda looked in the direction of the voice. Surprisingly, it was Veronica who spoke those words. She was now standing up straight. "Huh?"

Veronica nodded. "It isn't her fault. I provoked her into doing it. She doesn't deserve to be sent away. I take full responsibility for what happened on the mountain."

Zelda grew suspect of Veronica. "What plans are you up to, Veronica?"

Veronica clasped her hands together. "I don't have any more plans in me. I'm through. You… win." She looked at all the shocked faces in the room. She felt more tears come to her eyes as she bowed her head. "I'm sorry, everyone. I am so sorry."

_She's apologizing? What is going on with her? _Zelda wondered. Inspector Cashew getting up from the chair interrupted her thoughts. Inspector Cashew cleared his throat and left his notepad on his chair. He looked at Veronica and Mr. Walden. "Fine then. So be it. Zelda, you and your friends are free to go."

Zelda smiled. "Thank the goddesses," she whispered.

Cashew looked at Veronica and her father. "I'll need to talk to you two alone. The rest of you may leave the room."

There were a bunch of murmurs of excitement as everyone left the room. Marth and Samus helped Link stand up and walk out the door. Roy and Peach followed after them with Master Hand behind them. On Zelda's way out the door she walked past Veronica and smirked. "After all this time of calling me the big loser, looks like the tables have finally turned."

Veronica flipped around and burned her purple eyes into Zelda's blue eyes. Zelda could see her eyes were red rimmed and her makeup was slowly messing up. She didn't say a single word as she looked at the princess. Zelda felt a small nerve form in her body as Veronica continued to stare at her.

"Veronica, come here please." Inspector Cashew said.

Veronica gave Zelda one last look before flipping back around and walking over to her father and the inspector. Zelda looked back at them as she went out the door. It was great Veronica was finally found out. But was something missing?

**The Lab**

"Can I see that device for a moment, Roy?" Mewtwo asked.

"Sure. What for?" he said as he handed it to Mewtwo. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped back. "Going to make a clone of yourself?"

"No. I'm going to check something on the computer. And I'll need that device." Without another word, he started to work on the computer. "I'll tell you in a moment."

"Okay." Roy left Mewtwo to his work and headed towards the lounge where Samus, Marth, Link, Zelda, Peach, and the two Pichus were.

Zelda was busy healing all of Link's wounds. She had her eyes closed and she was humming to herself. Samus was fiddling with her minicomputer and Marth was staring off in space. Peach was stroking the clone Pichu and Pichu who were fast asleep. Master Hand did not join the smashers because he was calling the bus to come and get them. There was a long silence between the friends.

"Come on, guys!" Roy said as he entered the room. "We're all here and alive. We should be happy to be free from that witch."

"We are, Roy." Link said slowly. "We just don't know how to express ourselves. We haven't had a fun vacation because of all this and now we're free."

"Yeah, I agree," Samus said. She was listening to the other things the small device had recorded. "By the way, Link. Do you know who attacked you?"

Zelda finished healing Link and opened her eyes. "That's right. You said someone attacked you in the mountains."

Link shrugged. "Like I said earlier, I don't know. I couldn't see who it was. Maybe it was her brother or something." He stretched his arms and smiled at Zelda. "Thanks, Zel. I feel a lot better."

"Mm-hmm. I'm always here to help." Zelda rested her head on the table. "I'm so tired."

"You can't be tired. It's your birthday, Zellie." Peach commented.

"To be perfectly honest. I forgot all about my birthday." Zelda closed her eyes for a second. "I've been running here and there all day. I'm pooped."

Samus patted Zelda's head softly. "Aww… poor baby." She laughed lightly and then returned to listening to the computer.

"Anyway. I don't know who it was, Sam. Any idea?" Link asked.

"Well, maybe it was one of us. But what's weird is, if you were down there, who were you killing, Zelda?" she asked.

Zelda raised her head. "That's right. I guess it was a Link clone. But he seemed so lifelike. When I stabbed him, he started to bleed real blood."

"Wait. You stabbed me in attempts of trying to get rid of me?" Link asked.

"No. I stabbed the clone, Link."

"If it was me, Zel. You were going to kill me. Why?"

Zelda looked at Link. "I… well, it's hard to explain."

While Zelda explained to Link what happened, Samus looked over at Marth. He was staring at the shelves of books, reading the titles one by one. Samus sighed and opened her mouth. "Marth…are you okay?"

Marth slowly looked away from the shelf to look at Samus. "Yes, I'm fine now." He gave her a light smile. "Pretty hectic today, huh?"

Samus nodded. "Yeah. But at least it's all over now." She smiled too.

"And so… I can't really explain why here." Zelda concluded.

Link frowned. "No… tell me."

"Excuse me." A voice said.

The smashers looked up to see Mewtwo standing by the door. "You might want to see what I found on the computer."

The group of smashers walked inside of the computer lab. Mewtwo arrived at the computer first. He sat down in the swerving seat in front of the computer. "I found the information on the clones."

"Okay. That's fine and everything, but that doesn't really matter anymore does it?" Marth said. "Veronica is proven guilty so there's no point in keeping this information."

Peach came in the room with the sleeping Pokémon in her arms. "I say we delete the info and destroy the device along with it, so it can never be used again."

"Now, listen." Mewtwo said in an annoyed tone. "You didn't let me finish. Look at this data. Samus, read that file box name."

Samus looked at the computer screen and squinted her eyes. "Looks like it says **THE ACTIVE CLONES**?"

"Active clones?" Zelda echoed. "You mean as in the clones that were made and still functioning?"

"Exactly." Mewtwo clicked on the file. "This file has a list of all the clones made. Shall we check it out?"

A list appeared on the screen of active clones. Most of the clones were rats, birds, squirrels, snakes, and different types of plants. But as the list came to an end. Some names on the list were shown. Very familiar names.

"Hey. Those are names." Zelda pointed out. "They're our names. Let's see… Samus… Mewtwo…Link…Marth…and my name. And there's Pichu's name too." Zelda gasped. "She made clones of all of us."

"Except me." Roy said.

"And me." Peach added.

"I wonder." Mewtwo said quietly. He clicked on Samus' name first. When he clicked on it, a whole profile came up. "Samus Aran. Sixteen years. Blonde hair and green eyes. They have a whole profile on all of us. And let's see. Commands: Find Link and make sure to kiss him. Second Command: Avoid Marth at all times. Third Command: Come on to Link again and repeat the first command Fourth Command: Knock out the "real" Samus on train and bring her out of the train, then attack Zelda and her friends on the train. Kill them all if necessary."

Samus gaped at the computer in shock. "What? I never did any of those things."

"No. Your clone did." Mewtwo replied.

Zelda pondered this. Something came to her mind. "Sam. Do you remember us being locked in a freezer while we were here at the estate?"

"Yeah, I was there for that. But on the train after I went in the back to get the map...that clone must have been the one who knocked me out and then someone brought me back to this estate."

"So, that was a Samus clone who attacked us on train." Zelda figured out.

"You mean that whole fight with Samus on the train and all the insults I threw at her about her bad fashion sense, were all said to the clone?" Peach questioned. "That's crazy."

Samus raised a suspicious eyebrow at Peach. "You said what about my fashion sense?"

"_Oh nothing." _Peach quickly covered up.

"And that wasn't Samus who kissed me. That was the clone." Link's and Samus' eyes fell on Marth. Marth didn't look at any of them. He was looking at the screen.

Mewtwo brought up Marth's name. "Marth. Age Sixteen, Blue hair and blue eyes. First Command: Attack Samus on Serine Isle. And that's it."

Marth broke from the screen to look at Samus. She was looking at him with guilt written all over her face. She knew she would have to do some major apologizing later.

Mewtwo continued down the list. He went to Link's name and it revealed Link's commands were to kiss Samus and to follow Veronica's every orders and make sure the real Link does not come to the scene between Veronica and Zelda on the mountain. So, it was true that Zelda had killed the clone and Link was attacked by the Link clone. When she pulled up Mewtwo's name, it revealed that Mewtwo was used the one day him and Marth were on the docks. The Mewtwo clone was commanded to get Marth's sword away from him and give him a replacement. Then return the sword.

"My real sword was clean when I used it this morning."

"Apparently," Mewtwo replied. "Your sword was replaced by the clone Marth's bloody sword from when he attacked Samus."

"Oh. When I was thought I was talking to Mewtwo by the docks on the day of festival, that was a clone. And then the clone must have made my sword fall into the river with its psychic abilities and replaced it with the bloody one. That explains why when I pulled out my sword to show Samus I didn't cut her, it was caked with blood. Of course, I have no idea when Veronica found the time to return my real sword." Marth concluded. "Yes, that makes sense."

Mewtwo nodded. "And let's see. And this clone Pichu was just made by accident when Roy pushed the button just recently. I guess that's it." Mewtwo accidentally knocked some papers on the computer desk. "I forgot to show the papers on the mind controlling devices."

Zelda picked the papers up one by one. She stacked them up neatly and held them in her arms. "You guys. I should be rejoicing, but I'm feeling kind of bad about what happened to Veronica."

Roy looked at Zelda crazily. "What? Are you serious, Z? After what she did to you?"

"I'm going to have to agree with Roy on this one. Why feel any sympathy for where she's going?" Samus asked.

"You should have seen the look she gave me. She looked so upset. And she didn't even fight back when we found her out. She even apologized. Isn't that just weird?" Zelda clutched the papers tightly. "I don't know. Call me crazy if you want, but I feel like she doesn't deserve this."

"Okay, you have lost it." Peach said. "That's like really bizarre, Zelda."

"No. I agree with Zelda. I felt the same way." Link said in a serious tone. "I know what we did was right, but I felt concern for Veronica when she started to cry. Her father is all she has after all."

Marth leaned against one of the walls in the room. "She was the reason you two almost died remember? She tried to kill you every chance she could. If I were you two, I wouldn't feel any sympathy for her if she tried to burn me to death or caused a dispute between friends."

"Yes, she was our enemy, but still it feels like we might have made a mistake. I'm sure she was just going through some rough times. Hmm…" Zelda looked at her papers. "What a weird name."

Peach looked at Zelda's papers. "What is it?"

Zelda looked at the papers again. "In the bottom left corner of this paper, it says La Jolla Cloning Enterprises. What an interesting name."

Samus' ears perked up at that name. "La Jolla Cloning Enterprises?" Samus snatched the paper from Zelda. "It really does say that." Samus shoved her hand into the pocket of her jean shorts and pulled out a little square business card. She read it over and over again.

Zelda, Link, Marth and Roy huddled in close to Samus. Zelda leaned on Samus' shoulder to see what she was reading. When she read it, she realized what Samus' discovery was.

**Some Time Later**

Veronica followed her father out of the banquet room with her head down. "Dad, I am so sorry."

"I don't want to hear it, Veronica. I'm going to have to send you back to Saint Mary's Home. They agreed not to send you to jail. All your stuff is packed."

"Daddy, please? It will never happen again. Just don't send me away again." Veronica pleaded.

Her father shook his head and dragged her towards the front door. "Look! You're going whether you like it or not! You made this decision!" He walked out the door and the first people he saw were eight smashers. Zelda was standing in the middle of them all. They were all blocking the car that was going to take her away. Above her was Master Hand floating.

Mr. Walden stared at the group in confusion. "What are you all doing here? I thought you all went home."

Master Hand frowned at Walden. "In all my years, I never thought this would happen."

"What?" Mr. Walden said. Inspector Cashew ran outside and stopped short behind Veronica.

"Walden, what's going on?" he asked.

Zelda crossed her arms. "I'll tell you what's going on. We were all wrong. All of us."

Inspector Cashew kept his focus on the princess. "What do you mean?"

"She means. Veronica wasn't the one who caused all this. She's innocent. The real culprit here is Mr. Walden." Link announced.

"What!" Mr. Walden grew angry. "HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF THIS! YOU ALREADY PROVED VERONICA GUILTY. YOU WANT TO GET RID OF ME TOO?" He shouted.

"No, just you." A voice said.

Walden turned around and saw his son leaning on a police car next to the smashers. Garrett was frowning. "I thought I wouldn't be here in time. It's a good thing they figured it out while I was still drowsy from those sleeping pills you put in my drink." His irritated voice scared, Mr. Walden. Garrett looked over at Veronica. "Sis, come here."

Veronica looked at Garrett like she didn't know him. She took a step back. "Why?"

"I promise, it's nothing bad. Come here. I just want to take a look at you."

Veronica looked at her father and then back at Garrett. She took small steps over to her brother. Garrett took some steps closer to her in front of the smashers. As he reached her, he held out his hand. Veronica stopped right in front of him as he took his sister's hand in his. He pulled out a very familiar bottle of spray. Before Veronica could reply, Garrett sprayed the bottle.

"NO!" Mr. Walden shouted.

The chemicals in the spray reacted quickly to Veronica's nasal smells. She coughed a few times before falling limp in her brother's arms. Garrett lifted her up securely in his arms. Zelda looked at Mr. Walden. "At first I couldn't believe it. But I guess it is true. How could you do such a thing?"

Marth nodded. "What you did is the lowest of the low." Peach nodded and placed her hands on her hips. The two Pichus were glaring at Walden from her arms.

Link looked at Walden with disgust. "You used your own daughter to do your own dirty work. You placed a mind-controlling device on Veronica and you made her do all those things to my friends and me. For your own selfish reasons."

Walden turned red in the face. "You know nothing!"

"We know plenty." Samus said. "We found out in the lab room that you created the clones. We checked the papers we printed off your computer. The stuff we printed was from La Jolla Cloning Enterprises. Then I remembered something. I picked up one of your business cards in your home. And written on it was the same company. La Jolla Cloning Enterprises. And it said under it, Head inventor Rob Walden."

Zelda rubbed her chin. "And gee… isn't Rob Walden your name?" she asked sarcastically.

Inspector Cashew looked at Walden. "Wait. So, we have the wrong person?"

Garrett nodded looking down at his sleeping sister. "Yes. Our father has been toying with our lives for a long time now."

"Shut-up, boy! This has nothing to do you!" Mr. Walden snapped. "You have no proof saying I did anything."

"Actually we do. Once again you underestimate us, Walden." Zelda replied

Link smirked. "You remember Samus' device, don't you?" He watched Mr. Walden nod. "Well, it picked up another little conversation we found. Play the scene, Sam."

Samus' mini computer was out again and rolling. Voices were coming out of the computer again.

"**_Talk about a delay of time. The girl faints when we're about to prove her for the fraud she is. Geoffrey!" _**

**_"Yes sir."_**

**_"Garrett's sleeping pills were placed on the nightstand in his water, right?"_**

**_"Oh, yes of course. I put them in, as soon as we arrived. He should be asleep soon."_**

**_"Good. That stupid agent son of mine. He'll find some way to get me jailed for good. Please make sure nothing goes wrong. The smashers are already being guarded by the door so they shouldn't be a problem." _**

**_"How is Veronica's device holding up?" _**

**_"It's malfunctioning. That mind-controlling device is supposed to last longer than that. But something is malfunctioning it. Probably from that fall on the mountain. She must have hit something on her way down. I swear that fall was too close. My plan almost sunk. Good thing we were keeping an eye on her. I tell you. If my plan gets ruined by Master Hand's blasted smashers, I'm going to explode!" _**

Samus stopped the computer from playing. Zelda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The tape says it all." She reopened her eyes. "You're all sold out."

Mr. Walden frowned. "So you think you have me all figured out, don't you? My reason for doing this is fair."

Master Hand floated towards Mr. Walden. "I don't think there is any good way to explain yourself."

Mr. Walden didn't say anything. He shook his head in frustration.

Zelda frowned. "Why would you use your own children to do your dirty work? You're supposed to raise them up to do good. But all you did was use them. They were deprived of living a normal life because of you." Zelda responded. "I've never met any fathers like you!"

Mr. Walden lowered his eyes. "I do feel a tad bit ashamed."

"You should be!" Master Hand exclaimed. "This is unacceptable. Your life isn't so bad that you have to use your own children."

"If you only knew." Mr. Walden said. "Some few months ago, before Veronica came to stay at the mansion, I received a call from Jack Halters. You know, the head of all Nintendo. He offered a proposition to me. He wanted us to fuse work so we can make an even bigger company. Of course, I agreed. But after recent events in the SSBM mansion. Halters found an interest in just recruiting you, Master Hand and leaving me out of the loop. I was not about to miss out on such a deal. So, I put together this plan. After the recent event on the mountain during the summer Veronica was at camp, I brought Veronica home and hatched the plan. Since I knew she was traumatized by Katy's injury, I knew she couldn't function properly."

"Wait. Didn't Katy die?" Zelda interrupted.

"No, she didn't. She survived the fall by sheer luck. Anyway, I took this incident as an advantage. And it started from there. I sent Veronica to the mansion with the mind-controlling device intact. And she did all my evil biddings. She was being controlled when she did all those things to you and your friends."

"I don't get it. Why did you target Zelda of all people?" Link asked. "She didn't even know you."

"I chose her because I knew what passion Veronica had for you Link. Also, Veronica was not lying in her diary when she said Zelda was her idol. I was also quite aware of the close friendship between you two Hylians. I decided to take this to my advantage. If I could make Veronica toy with Zelda by getting her close to Link, the naïve little princess would have surely done something crazy to get herself expelled. Thus, ruining the image of the SSB franchise." Walden looked at Master Hand for a brief moment and then back at Zelda.

"And those diary entries you found were fake. I made Veronica write them so you would be thrown off. And that was successful." He ran a hand through his sleek black hair. "After that she came to the Nintendo Festival here. I saw her and gave her some new commands to get my plan into action."

"She was going to seal your fate, Zelda, when I told her to find a way to intimidate you into fighting. You did and you were almost expelled. In the meantime, I knew that your friends Marth, Roy, Peach, and Samus were helping you patch up things and tried to stop my daughter. And that's when I decided it was time to make the clones."

"How did you clone us?" Marth asked.

"I had someone sneak into all your rooms late at night and use the device to clone you. I had to do something to stop you all from aiding Zelda in figuring out my plan. So, I decided to destroy the friendship between you all. This would leave Zelda on her own and she would become easily terminated."

He continued to answer Marth's question. "By observing, I guessed you and Samus had a relationship. So, I used the Samus clone to break it by making her kiss Link. Plus, making sure you saw it. Then I use the Marth clone to attack Samus in the woods where no one would see it. I almost thought of making the clone kill her, but I felt generous that day."

Marth's fists started to shake in anger as he balled them up. But he kept his stance and remained still. "Garrett. You said you did it." He looked at Garrett.

Garrett looked slightly confused. "When did I say that? Was it when I had the device on my neck?"

"Yes. I made you say it to start even more ruckus. Now let me finish." Walden snapped. "After that, I sent Samus' clone to try and kiss Link again and successfully Marth and Zelda saw it. You four fought about it, as I had hoped. After that, Zelda was vulnerable and without any back up from you, Samus, she made a terrible decision to fight and she got expelled. I thought I didn't have to do anything else after that, but then I thought, why shouldn't I let Veronica have Link to herself? I gave her one of my mind-controlling devices and she placed it on Link's neck. But it never did activate for some reason. I decided maybe we should just kill Zelda, so Veronica can have Link. And what luck I had when I saw my son snooping around. He arrived at the resort with Samus and then I knew what I could do. I was able to place a device on him and then he told Samus that he knew where to find clues."

The confession continued further. "Samus too interested in my son, led her friends into the trap. And you were trapped in the freezer. But once again, you all find a way to escape once again. So after the Samus clone knocked out and removed the "real" Samus from the train, it hatched the plan of killing Zelda, Peach, and her other friends on the train. Then Peach decided to be a hero by fighting off the clone and buying Zelda time out of there. Wasnt counting on the Mushroom Princess to trap the clone in the boiler room, causing it to melt."

_That explains the liquid I found in the boiler room and Samus' communicator and wristwatch._ _The clone must have stole those things once it knocked Samus out. _ Marth thought to himself.

Mr. Walden continued. "So, the fight moved to the forest. But I'm always prepared. I had two men come and try to find Zelda and Veronica. The real Link in the mountains was battered up and bruised by the clone Link so he wouldn't interfere with what happened on the mountain. And then you pretty much know the story after that."

"How did Veronica survive the fall?" Zelda asked.

"I had agents spying on her. When she fell there was a net there waiting to catch her." He looked at everyone one by one. "S,o now you know."

"What were you thinking?" Master Hand questioned.

"I WAS THINKING HOW GREAT IT WOULD BE IF YOU WERE OUT OF JOB!" He shouted. "I DESERVE THAT POSITION WITH HALTERS MORE THAN ANYBODY!"

"I don't want to hear that! I would give up everything but my family here. These smashers mean a lot to me!" Master Hand retorted.

Zelda looked at her leader. "Master Hand."

Master Hand grunted. "If you had killed any of them, I would have sworn to kill you next. This is ridiculous. Those kids are a part of your life. You shouldn't be using them like that."

"I know that now." Mr. Walden's blue eyes fell low. He walked slowly over to his son. "Garrett, I am sorry for all that has happened. I now see why you left to go live with your mother. It was for the best."

Garrett shook his hands a bit as he adjusted Veronica slightly off his right arm. "I know, Dad. You've wanted to be in command of SSB for some time now. It's understandable. You know I forgive you." He smiled at his dad.

There was some stirring in his arms. Veronica slowly opened her eyes to look into her father's violet ones. "Daddy?"

Mr. Walden smiled. "I really do not deserve that name, Ronnie." He placed a hand on his daughter's forehead. "I have been a terrible father. I should have taken into consideration your worry for your friend Katy. But I used you because of my own problems."

"Don't worry about it, Daddy." She said as she got out of Garrett's arms. "I was aware of everything that happened. It was hurtful to watch, but I still love you, Dad." She said.

"We both do." Garrett said.

Mr. Walden felt tears come to his eyes. "I'm so sorry." He hugged his children close to him. "You two are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Veronica already had tears streaming down her face. "It's okay, Daddy. Everything is going to be okay." She watched Garrett nod through the corner of her eye. "We can start over some day."

Garrett hugged his father even tighter, "Yes, and we can start by doing more things together."

Mr. Walden sighed. "You two are too generous. To forgive a terrible person like me."

"Ahem…" Inspector Cashew had finally spoke, after such a long story. "We're going to have to take you downtown Mr. Walden. It's the law."

Veronica broke free from her father's grasp and turned on the inspector. "No, you can't! We still need him.

Garrett didn't say anything. He was an agent. He knew how the law worked and Inspector Cashew was correct. "He's right, Veronica. He has to go."

"How can you say that about our own father? You want him to go?" Veronica shouted.

"No, I don't but…"

Mr. Walden sighed. "Veronica, it's for the best. I have to obey all rules. I accept all charges. I'll come with you, Cashew. Let me just say a few things." Walden walked up to Master Hand. "Master Hand, you are a hard worker. You do everything so well. You do deserve the position with Halters. I don't know why I tried to take it. I'm sorry I caused all this."

Master Hand was silent but then he forgave him. "I'm fine with it. I may have done the same thing in your position. Don't worry about it. You've done a good job, Sir."

Mr. Walden smirked as he closed his eyes. "Just call me Rob now." Walden walked over to the smashers. "I am sorry I used all of you. Especially you two Zelda and Link. I messed up a good thing you two had going."

"Hmm?" Link didn't quite catch what he meant. But Zelda did and it caused her to turn a rosy pink.

Zelda nodded to Mr. Walden. "All is forgiven."

"I don't know how you could." Mr. Walden nodded. He looked back at Garrett and Veronica. "My children. I must be leaving."

Veronica ran to her father's arms. "No, Daddy."

Mr. Walden wanted to cry again, but he stayed strong. "Veronica, you have to let me go." He looked at his son. "Garrett, take good care of your sister. I don't think I'll be coming back."

"I will. But you will come back, Dad." Garrett said.

Mr. Walden nodded and then let go of his daughter. "I love you two." He walked pass them and back to the front door of the mansion. He looked back at Cashew. "I just have to tell the servants to leave the house, since they don't have to work anymore."

"Okay. Hurry back." Cashew said as Walden ran into the house. He sighed. "I have to put this in my notes." He walked over to his car and sat inside.

The group of people stared at each other. There was so much to say, but no way of expressing it. What were they to say after so much chaos during the past week? Zelda looked at Veronica and she looked at Zelda. The tension was pain, but one of them decided to speak up.

"Well…" Veronica started. "I guess you deserve a big apology. I am so sorry about everything that happened to you, Zelda."

Zelda shrugged. "It wasn't your faul,t Veronica." _I can't believe I just said that. It feels weird talking to Veronica normally. _"It was your father's fault. Not yours. You had no control over what you did and I'm still alive."

Veronica smiled. "Yes. I'm very thankful for that. I just wish when we first met, we could've been friends rather than enemies."

"It's not too late. Maybe once all this dies down and I recover from everything that has happened in the past few weeks, we can start over. We can have a better start than our first encounter. I wouldn't mind." Zelda extended her hand.

Veronica took her hand and shook it. "Thank you. You really are one of my idols, Zelda."

Peach butted in. "This is great. Now we can really talk like regular girls around here. Like shopping and boys."

Veronica nodded. "Yes. Just like Katy and me. You always have cute outfits, Peach."

Peach smiled. "Really?"

The girls got into a conversation quickly. Meanwhile, Mewtwo and Samus were looking at the clone Pichu. The clone was attached to Marth again.

"Why is it so clingy?" Samus asked.

"Clones are affectionate. Marth must seem to be a father to it." Mewtwo said.

Marth seemed to not mind anymore as he patted the clone on the head. "Unfortunately, I can't keep it. It has to go somewhere."

Garrett entered the conversation. "I don't mind taking the little guy."

Marth looked at Garrett suspiciously. He knew Garrett was being mind-controlled earlier, but he still didn't feel safe around him. Not after what he and Samus went through. Samus didn't seem to mind though.

"You really will take him?" Samus said in hope.

"Of course ,Sam." Garrett said. "I'll take care of him for you guys."

Marth rolled his eyes. _So he calls her Sam now. Isn't she over him by now? _Marth handed the Clone Pichu to Garrett. "Here, take him. Apparently, you know the solution to everything." He stormed off over to Link and Roy.

Samus watched him leave. "I just… don't know what to do." She said softly. Samus looked back at Garrett. "I've caused him a lot of trouble."

"Well, it's up to you to make a decision." Garrett said.

"Yeah, I know."

There was another long silence. But then some loud screams rang through everyone's ears. The smashers looked back at the mansion and came face to face with a roaring fire surround the estate! The whole house was covered in heavy flames. Veronica and Garrett looked in shock at the house.

"No… he didn't." Garrett's eyes were wide. "Why would he do this?"

"Master Garrett, Miss Veronica!" A servant came running over to them. "I tried to stop him!"

Garrett grabbed the servant by the collar. "What did he do?"

He told us all to get out of the mansion. Then he threw kerosene all over everything. Then he used matches to start the fire! Oh, my master! He's gone!" the servant cried.

"NO!" Veronica screamed. "She ran towards the house. "DADDY!" She was almost to the door but Garrett grabbed his sister and stopped her. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME GO! I'M NOT GOING TO LET HIM DIE!"

"Veronica, it's too late! He's gone!" Garrett watched the flames cover the front part of the house in a burning inferno. "There's nothing we can do." He held his sister tightly.

Veronica stopped struggling. It was too late. She watched parts of the house collapse. She turned around and sobbed on her brother's chest. "This can't be happening."

"It's okay, Veronica. Let it all out." Garrett rubbed his sister's back. "This is what he wanted."

Samus placed a hand on her chest, closed her eyes ,and prayed. Marth looked away from the burning house and Mewtwo shook his head with shut eyes. Roy had Pichu in his hands and he kept the Pokémon from looking at the tragic scene. Peach and Master Hand remained silent. Zelda and Link had been watching the whole scene. Zelda felt tears come to her eyes. Link placed an arm around her shoulder. They all watched silently as the house went up in flames.

**On The Ride Home**

Zelda looked at everyone on the bus. Everyone was sitting in different places on the bus. She was towards the front and Link was two seats behind, diagonal from her. Samus was sitting towards the back with Pichu, Mewtwo, and Peach. And Roy and Marth were sitting towards the middle.

She sighed and thought back to what happened. The police and firemen came. It was indeed too late. Mr. Walden had died in the massive amounts of flames. Veronica was crying hysterically. After the flames died down, Garrett and his friends left with Veronica to go back to some place called the Corner Pocket. Then the next day, Garrett was going to fly her over to their mother's house. It was a good plan. Zelda felt helpless during that time. But she did give Veronica a hug. The girls parted ways and that was it. The bus came and everyone went their separate ways.

Zelda watched Roy rock back and forth in his chair. "Roy? Are you okay?"

"I will be if someone starts up a conversation. This silence is killing me!" Roy exclaimed.

Peach laughed. She had been laughing at Roy a lot lately. "Well, I'll break the silence. Its been a wild trip."

Samus' green eyes lit up the moonlight. "I'll agree with you there. Things have finally started to slow down. Some birthday huh, Zelda?"

Zelda smiled. "Mm-hmm. We've been through a lot. I can't wait to go home and go to sleep."

Link shook his head. "Sorry, Z. We can't let you do that."

Zelda stopped smiling. "Why?"

Peach laughed. "The day isn't over yet. We have something in store for you."

**A/N: And that was it. This chapter needs to be called the big I. The "I" would stand for Irony. There was so much of it, it wasn't even funny. I know this chapter was a big shocker for some people. But I love suspense, shock, and torturing you to know what happens next. Ha Ha ha! Okay I have a few shout out for some writers who haven't updated their stories yet. And they are:**

**Crystalicios: I like The Test so much, And you left it at a suspenseful spot.**

**Jamielo: I read your story Super Crush Bros. I was hoping for another chapter. **

**Polska (I know you have a new name but I forgot it): What happened to Shadow Realm?**

**These are the three people who haven't updated in such a long time. And I miss your stories. Okay. Well the final chapter is next. Review please and I'll see you then! **


	23. Love is in the Air?

**Hey, guys! Didn't expect me to be done with this chapter so soon huh? Well I am! Surprise! Surprise! I think its because I had a sudden excitement because the story is completed! Yes, a very sad moment indeed. But don't worry, it will all be okay. This one is nice and long. I still can't believe how fast I wrote this. It may suck and then again it may not. It's up to you. Okay. This is it!**

**Ladies and Gentlemen**

**I present to you**

**The Finale**

**Chapter 23**

**Love is in The Air?**

**Nintendo Resort**

Zelda got up from her seat. She was the last one to get off. She skipped down the stairs and stood by the door of the bus. Link was waiting for her by the side of the door. He walked up to her and smiled. Zelda smiled back. "What is it?"

"Oh. Nothing. But close your eyes, Zel." He said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Close my eyes? What are you up to, Link?"

"You'll see. Just do it." Link assured her.

Zelda sighed and closed her eyes. "Okay, now what?" She felt Link softly grab her hand. She heard his voice. "Just follow me, Zel. I'll lead you." Zelda gripped his hand as he led her somewhere unknown to her. She felt her feet fall on a grassy area. Her heels clunked into the deep grass. As she was walking she smiled as she felt the warmth of Link's strong hand. She wanted to hold it forever. She picked up her feet to get her heels from getting dirty in the grass. About two minutes later, Zelda grew very curious. "Are we there yet?"

Link didn't respond. Zelda frowned and stopped walking. "Link!"

"Ow! Zel, don't yell in my ear!" Link yelled back.

"Well, maybe if you tell me what's going on." Zelda replied.

"Hold on a sec." Link started to drag Zelda since she was trying to stand still until she received and explanation. But Link was too strong for her and he continued to pull her along. He didn't say another word to her. Zelda knew she wanted to know what was going on. But she kept her eyes closed, so not to frustrate anyone. She decided to go along for the ride or walk for that matter. She walked a bit longer when all of a sudden, Link stopped.

"Okay, Z! Open your eyes." He called.

Zelda opened her eyes. The first things in her sight were Link's aquamarine eyes. When she looked past him, she saw her other friends Peach, Mewtwo, Marth, Samus, Roy, and Pichu. They were all standing in front of some large rose bushes. Something was behind them.

Zelda looked at her friends. "What's going on?" she asked.

Samus smiled. "During the time Veronica was here, we know it was kind of rough for you."

"I'll admit it was. But it's over now."

Peach grinned. "So we've been thinking. You deserve a break."

"And we decided to put something together to put that rich, bright smile back on you face." Roy said.

Marth grabbed one edge of the bushes that seemed to part into two like curtains. "So, without further stalling, we present…"

Link grabbed the other end of the rose bush. "Something you'll never forget." They parted the bushes to unveil their surprise. They stood with their backs to the surprise as Zelda looked and gasped.

They spoke together. "SURPRISE!"

"Oh my! Everyone's so…asleep." Zelda pointed out.

The smashers turned around to see what Zelda was talking about and gasped. There party was still together, but the smashers were not. Most of them were sound asleep and snoring all over the lawn. Zelda did look past the sleeping smashers and looked at the scenery. It was a large courtyard. There was a large fountain in the middle sprouting out massive waves of water. She could see a musical group tuning their instruments in one corner. There was a large table filled with plates and cups on top of it. There were cups, napkins, plates, and silverware of all colors imaginable like green, blue, purple, yellow, black, orange, gold, silver, white, and of course pink. In the middle of the table was a vanilla butter cream five-layered cake with pink icing. There were chairs set up everywhere and over in the middle was a large stack of gifts. Most of them were pink in wrapping. But what she saw in the middle of the courtyard said it all. There was a pink banner that said.

**HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY ZELDA!**

"Oh, you guys." She was getting teary-eyed. "This is so…"

"Absurd!"

"Huh?" Zelda turned to look at a fuming Peach. "Why is it, Peach?"

Peach didn't respond to her. She walked straight up to Mario, Luigi, and Fox who were playing cards in the nice, cool grass. "You guys! What are you doing? You were supposed to be ready when Zelda came."

"Well, it's not like you called to warn us or anything." Mario replied. "So, we just sat… and sat… and sat…" He looked at his watch. "And now it's ten o'clock at night!"

Link frowned. "You could at least look interested in being here. It's a party. Look alive!"

Young Link, who was fast asleep, heard Link's voice in his Hylian ears. His ears and eyes twitched as he opened his eyes. They rose in size when he saw Link standing before him and he stood up quickly. "Link!"

Link looked over at Young Link running towards him. Before Link could reply, Young Link knocked him down on his back with great force. "Oof! Hello, lil bro!"

Young Link got off Link and glared at him. "Where were you? I thought something happened to you!"

Link looked at his younger self and smiled. "Heh. It's a long story."

Young Link eased up his glare. "Whatever you did, it almost cost you your life. I could feel it." He turned his gaze to Zelda. "You're okay too!" He gave Link a small kick in the side for worrying him and went to hug Zelda.

Zelda held her arms out and hugged him. "I'm fine now, Young Link," she whispered.

Samus looked at Falco who was sound sleep. "This is ridiculous. This was supposed to be a surprise. Sorry about this, Zelda."

"It's okay," she said as she patted the top of Young Link's head. "I'm quite surprised anyway. Everyone can go to sleep. I do not need a party. Just being with you guys is good enough."

"Oh Poppycock!" Peach exclaimed. "You need a party. And beside Mario agreed to keep the party going. Everyone is still here after all."

"You got Mario to agree?" Samus said. "What did you have to give him in return?"

"Oh nothing. I just threatened him and did a little arm-twisting. Literally." She added.

"Great. So let's party!" Zelda said.

"Oh no! Not in those clothes, Zelda. There's blood all over them." Samus said as she examined them.

Zelda held her dress around the hems to examine it. "Oh, you're right. I'll just go put one of my other dresses. I think the lavender one would be good."

Peach placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "No need for those dresses. I've got some clothes in mind upstairs in your room."

* * *

"Oh wow!" Zelda twirled around in her new pink dress. It was a spaghetti strap dress. The torso part of the dress was heart shaped towards the top but cylinder shaped towards the bottom. The dress was slightly puffy and the hem was trimmed in white lace. Peach even bought her pink sandals to go with the outfit. She took her crown off and left it on the table. "Peach, I love this dress."

"I knew you would." Peach was toying with her hair. She had decided to do something different. She had ditched her crown and flattened her hair to be straight and partly wavy. Her peasant skirt was a pink color. She had on a white halter-top with an extra pair of straps that hung to her shoulders. Her eyes fell on the pink-gemmed necklace around her neck. "Now that I'm ready. Let's go."

"Hold on." Peach and Zelda looked over at the bathroom. Samus came out of the room. She had changer her clothes also. She was wearing a a formal, strapless, black jumpsuit trimmed in white. She let her free and fall down her shoulders without the curls in them. " Did you guys completely forget about me?"

"Nice, Samus. Very pretty." Zelda commented.

"Yeah it's cute n' all. But I thought you said you were going to wear a skirt on Zelda's birthday." Peach wondered.

"No, not ever again. You know how hard it is to stay in that skirt all day? I'm tired and beat. Never again. I'll kill myself if I ever have to wear another one."

Peach closed her compact mirror. "Suit yourself."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Let's hurry down to the party."

The girls hurried out of the room and into the elevator. Zelda didn't even think about what happened to her in the elevator this time. She just smiled as she started to get excited. "Girls, I'm really happy that you did this. I've never had a surprise party before. And I've never had a party where it didn't have to deal with my father trying to find me suitors."

Samus crossed her arms. "Your dad tries to find you suitors on your birthday?"

"Ever since I was eleven years old. He tried to do it when I was nine, but Impa gave him a talk and reconsidered it." Zelda sighed. "I wonder what he's doing right now. Since I'm not a home. He must be lonely or likely he's so busy, he hasn't thought about me at all."

Samus and Peach looked at their friend sadly. Peach started to think about her own family at home. Were they missing her? She shrugged it off. She hugged Zelda. "Oh don't worry about it, Zellie. I'm sure he's fine. This is time to be happy. Not sad!"

Zelda gave in to Peach's reply. "You're right. Sorry. I'll try to keep a smile on my face. I'm going to have fun on this trip and no one's going to stop me!"

Samus laughed. She moved aside as the elevator door opened. "Now that's the spirit!" She let Peach and Zelda out first and then she followed after them. "Let's do this!"

The girls hurried back out to the party. When they arrived, there were more people there. Most of them were from Serine Isle. They all said surprise again. Zelda thanked them all and then the party really began. The party was real fun for her. She mingled with just about everyone at the party. Her buddy at Serine Isle, Kendrix was there and she met her family. Zelda spent most of her time with her smasher company. She learned how to play a friendly card game of "Spoons" with Mario and Luigi. She danced a little with Marth, Roy, Falco, Fox, and some others faces she learned along the way. She played some party games with the younger smashers and ate her first set of food with Kirby and Yoshi. She made an effort to talk to everyone she could, thanks to Peach's heavily planned advice on how to work the crowd on a party. (That and Peach was like a stopwatch on how long Zelda talked to the guests) But while she enjoyed running into Peach continuously, there were two friends who somewhat escaped her eye during most of the party. Even so, she didn't care. She was having a great time!

After an hour or two passed, Zelda found herself sitting down at a table. She was taking a breather and resting her feet as she ate some more of the food prepared. She looked around at all the friends who arrived. Fox and Falco looked as if they were having a dance contest against Luigi and Mario. But it looked as if Luigi was the only one who could dance really well since he was getting a lot of attention. DK was curiously observing Pikachu and Pichu as they spoke in their native tongue. She smiled. _I'm glad I'm still here. I thought for sure I was going to stay expelled. But I'm still here enjoying a party. This has got to be the best day of my life. Oh, what am I saying? Everyday I spend with these smashers is the best._

Zelda felt someone approach her silently. She knew exactly who it was. _Are you enjoying yourself, Mewtwo?_

_I am actually. I'm glad I decided to not stay cooped up in my room to meditate._

Zelda turned around. She looked at her psychic friend. _I suspected you would. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. You didn't look like the party type._

_While I'll admit that this group of partiers is quite rowdy and rambunctious, I am enjoying observing them in a party habitat. I'll have to remember to attend these birthday parties more often._

_You should have a party on your own birthday. When is it?_

_If you count the day I escaped from Giovanni's prison, that'll be about four months and nineteen days from now._

_I think that's a wonderful day to celebrate. After all, it led you here. _Zelda stood up and gave him an assuring look. _ I'll plan your party for you. Maybe we can just have a meditation rather than a crazy party like this one._

Mewtwo chuckled at that thought. _That would be very interesting. I'd like that._ He put on a smile for Zelda and finally spoke. "Thank you, Princess."

"Mewtwo, you know I hate being called that. Just call me, Zelda."

Mewtwo nodded. "Fair enough… Zelda. If there's anything you need, please tell me."

"Hmm… well actually. I need to know. Have you seen Samus or Link? I haven't seen them since we came back out to the party." The thought of the two of them missing made Zelda think of past events. _Stop acting ridiculous, Zelda. _She scolded herself. _They're not like that and you know it. Let's not get paranoid._

"Let's see. I haven't seen Link at all. But you're in luck. I just saw Samus over by the fountain with Falcon following her. She's probably still there."

Zelda let out a frustrated sigh. "With Falcon stalking around her and being in her face, I'm sure she won't stay long. I'll see you later, Mewtwo!" She took her food, threw it in the trash, and hurried to go find her friend. She was almost to the fountain when Peach grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong, Zel?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to find Samus."

"You can find her later. You have a party going on, Zelda. She's bound to show up sooner or later."

"But I know where she is. She's at the…" Zelda looked at the fountain. It was empty, but she saw Captain Falcon grumbling as he got of the drippy fountain. "Din, I just missed her. I'm sorry, Peach. I have to go find her now." Zelda got free from Peach's grasp and hurried over to the fountain to talk to Captain Falcon.

"Falcon!" she called.

Captain Falcon looked up to see the Hylian Princess. "Hello. What an honor to talk to you. How can I help you?"

Zelda inspected the soaked racer. "I know Samus did this to you, right?" Falcon nodded as he started wringing out his clothes. Zelda was determined. Where is she?"

"Heck! I don't know. She just stormed off after knocking me into the fountain for no reason at all."

Zelda lowered her eyes. "What did you do this time?"

"I sort of caressed her cheek and let my other hand wander across her back side." He said as if it was nothing wrong.

Zelda frowned. She didn't say anything else as she walked away from Falcon to go look for her. She muttered. 'Little pervert' under her breath, as she drifted off into the party goers.

"It was only for two seconds!" Falcon called out to her. "Three seconds tops!"

Zelda only had to walk for a while until she ran into someone. It was Young Link in his red tunic. "Hi, Zelda!"

"Hi, Young Link! Listen I got to go!" Zelda ran off.

"But Zelda! I'm supposed to tell you something!"

Zelda kept running till she saw a row of chairs. And at the end of them was Samus. She was sitting with her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest. She stopped right in front of her and watched Samus open her eyes. She was slightly surprised by Zelda's sudden appearance. "Zel? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. What's wrong with you? You look pretty depressed." Zelda pointed out. "Are you enjoying the party?"

Samus nodded. "Yeah. You know I am, Zel. Don't worry about me. I'm enjoying myself, but I'm just a little tired." Samus looked at Zelda staring deep into her eyes. "What?"

"You're lying to me, Sam. When you're fine, your eyes are much brighter. When you're sad or hiding something, your eyes look gloomy, foggy, and glossy." Her blue eyes burned into Samus' green eyes. "And that's exactly how they look. They look sad." She sat down next to Samus. "Tell me what's wrong and I'm not leaving till I know what, Samus."

Samus blushed a bit. "It's nothing you need to worry about. You're supposed to be having fun. Now go." Zelda didn't move and she remained silent. Samus sighed. "Okay…I really am having fun, Zelda. Honestly. But every now and then I keep thinking about… about well…"

"Marth?" Zelda watched Samus nod. "You're worried about what's going to happen to you two, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" she asked.

"I know you all too well now, Samus." She sat down in the chair next to her friend. "Nothing's going to happen to you. Have you talked to him since you guys found out the truth about who attacked you and that it was the Samus clone that kissed Link?"

Samus propped her head in her hands. "No." She lowered her head. "Zel, I don't know what to say to him. I accused him and I was wrong. If I talk to him now, I don't know what he's going to think of me."

"You should talk to him right now. I hate to see you two not talking."

"What if he doesn't want to talk to me?"

"I'm sure he does want to talk. What makes you think he won't?"

"We caught each other a few times looking at each other and then he would walk away or I would leave. He must think I'm not worth talking to or worth forgiving. He'll never want to talk to me." She closed her eyes.

Zelda looked back at the party. "I'm not so sure about that. He wants to talk to you."

"Really…" Samus chuckled. "And what makes you say that?"

"He's standing right in front of you," she replied.

"What?" Samus opened her eyes. She saw some very familiar black boots. She looked up to see Marth looking down at her. She gasped as she grew red in the face. _How long has he been standing there? Did he hear what I said?  
_  
Marth kept a serious face. "Samus, can we talk alone please?"

Samus was quiet but then she felt Zelda nudge her in her side. She looked at Zelda gesturing her to say yes. Samus turned back to Marth. "Okay." She stood up and followed Marth as he led her to a quiet place.

Zelda clasped her hands. _Please get back together you two._

"Zelda!"

Zelda saw Link coming over to where she was. He was wearing his black tunic. Zelda always thought Link looked very attractive in that tunic, though she never had the courage to tell him that. She didn't say anything as he stopped in front of her.

"Did Young Link give you my message?" he asked.

"Um… oh right." Zelda remembered Young Link was trying to tell her something."I didn't quite listen to him."

Link sighed in relief. "That's good. I thought you were just ignoring me. I was wondering if we could talk about something for a moment?" Zelda looked at the party. Link raised his eyebrows. "Don't worry about the party. It will only take a few minutes." Zelda nodded and stood up. The two took off to handle business.

Meanwhile, Peach was busy keeping the party together. She was following Bowser and Ganondorf in stealth because she knew they were up to something. She had brushed her blonde hair out of her face only a second before she had lost track of them. "Now where did they go?" she said quietly.

"Oh _Roy_!" a feminine voice called.

Peach stopped walking immediately and looked in the direction of the voice. She saw a girl with light, brown hair sashay over to Roy with a seductive smile on her face. Then there was another girl with short green hair who already was placing her arms around Roy's muscular body. Peach recognized the brown-haired girl from the autograph signing on Serine Isle. But this green-haired girl was new to Peach. She watched as the brunette stopped in front of Roy and flashed her sexy smile. Peach glared at them as Roy took in all the attention he was getting. He responded to the brunette by taking her hand again and kissing it.

The brunette giggled. "How flattering."

The green-haired girl grew jealous. "Hmph!" she glared at the brunette.

Roy just chuckled and then he grabbed the moss-haired girl's hand. "Don't worry, Mia." He took her hand and kissed it too. "I treat all my girls the same."

Peach felt her anger boiling as Mia began to giggle and she nestled her head against Roy's shoulder along with the brunette. Peach glared at them. _Okay! Time to make an appearance! s_he said to herself as she walked over to them.

"So…" Roy began. "Your name is Karina, right? What a pretty-"

"Roy!"

Roy looked up and gasped. At first he didn't recognize her. But then he saw it was Peach with a very new and surprisingly attractive look. Roy never thought there was a problem with her look before, even though she did look childish. This mature look made Roy gape at her. He didn't say a word except one. "Peach?"

Karina the brunette looked at Roy. "Isn't this Princess Peach, Roy?"

"Uh… uh-huh?" He wasn't too sure.

"Yes. I am. And I'm going to have to ask you two to leave. I need to talk to Roy alone." Peach said sternly. "If you don't mind."

Mia placed her hands on her hips. "We do mind. We're talking to Roy here."

"Yeah, more like seducing him. I suggest you leave him alone and enjoy the party like the three of you need to be doing."

Mia crossed arms. "And if we don't? Are you going to report us or something?"

Peach laughed. "No, of course not. I'm more into brute force." She punched her fist into her hand. "I am a smasher after all." Mia and Karina looked at each other and then back at Roy. Karina sighed and left. "See you around, Roy."

Mia glared at Peach one more time before turning back to Roy and smiling. "Call me sometime. Okay?"

Roy nodded as the girl walked off. Roy narrowed his eyes at Peach. "How many more times must you interfere with my life?"

"If it means setting you straight, I'd say as many times as I can." Peach scowled at Roy. "You're supposed to be enjoying this party. For Zelda's sake, why don't you go socialize instead of hitting on girls?"

"All the people are boring." Roy replied.

"What about doing karaoke?"

"Gag me."

"Play Cards?"

"Don't have any money."

"Watch the entertainment?"

"They're not here yet."

"Watch the clown you rented?"

"If I see that clown again, I swear I'll slice its head off." Roy's thoughts went back to when the clown sprayed him with water.

"Eat?"

"I've done that so many times, it's not even funny. Now that you deprived me from everything, I guess I will go retire to my room and sleep." Roy yawned and headed for the resort.

Peach watched him go. An idea popped in her head. "Why don't you dance?"

"Dance?" Roy snorted. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I'm being serious. Why won't you dance?" Peach asked.

"There's no one worthy of dancing with me. I'll blow them away with my awesome dancing skills. If there's nothing else, I think I'll leave now."

Peach let Roy walk a few more steps before she let out a big sigh. "It's okay, Roy. I understand."

Roy stopped. "What's okay?"

Peach smirked. "It's okay if you're scared to tell me. I know you can't dance."

"What?"

"You can't dance a lick. It's fine. You don't have to lie to get me off your back. And don't worry. There are a lot of people who can't dance. Well… there are a few smashers like Mario, Marth, Link, and Luigi who can.

"I dance way better than them."

"_Sure you do."_ She said sarcastically. "I'm just saying this because when we had that welcoming party when we first arrived at the mansion, I danced with all of them and they dance fantastically." Peach giggled. "I wouldn't expect some hardcore general like you to know how to dance. You're probably all clumsy and lopsided."

Roy started to get angry with the Princess as she continued to degrade him and his dancing skills. He shook his fists in anger.

Princess Peach looked at Roy's shaking hands. "Aww… what's wrong?" she said in a baby voice. "Is little Roysy Boysy upset because he can't dancey wancy?" Peach started to laugh harder. "Poor wittle baby," she added.

Roy lost it. "Alright! That's it! You and me! On the dance floor! Right now!" Without waiting for a response, Roy grabbed Peach's arm and dragged her over to the dance floor.

Peach sighed. _I thought he was going to snap at me. Maybe I was a little too rough._ Peach heard waltz music playing._ I got to push him a little bit more._ "What a shame. Only slow music is playing. We can't possibly dance separately." She said as plain as she could so he wouldn't catch on.

"Well, you and me are going to waltz then." Roy pulled Peach to halt with one arm around her waist. Peach placed her free hand on Roy's shoulder. Both of their other hands were raised and laced together. Before she could ready herself, Roy took off suddenly but very slow and smoothly.

Peach felt a feeling in her heart, feeling she was at peace. She had forgotten about the party and everyone else. The only person she was thinking about was Roy and about the feeling she had while dancing in his arms. He really was a smooth dancer. Peach put on a smile that was unnoticeable to Roy. _His dancing makes me feel safe and protected. It's like I'm dancing on clouds or flying in the air as he spins me._

Roy looked at Peach for a brief moment. "I told you I could dance. But _no._ You wouldn't listen to me. I bet you feel pretty stupid right now, huh?"

"Hmm… not exactly." Peach looked at Roy's confused stare as they continued to dance. "I knew you could dance all along."

"You did? Then why did you want me to prove it to you?" he asked.

Peach turned a real rosy pink color. She was hoping he wouldn't ask that question. "Um… well…it's… I just wanted you to have fun. Yeah. That's it. I mean, after all, this is a party. You're having fun now, aren't you?"

"I guess so." He muttered.

Peach sighed in relief and then she looked deep into his amazing blue eyes. She whispered to him quietly. "I know I am."

Roy stopped dancing. He looked straight at Peach. "Um… Peach? What's wrong with you?"

Peach groaned. _He's older than me, but he can be so dense and immature. _"Nothing, Roy." She took her hands free from his. "Okay, we're done here. You can stop dancing and go back to your room if you want." She stepped back from him and almost turned around.

"Hold on, Peach. I still want to dance with you." Roy said quietly.

Peach blushed even harder. "You do?" she said softly.

Roy tried to shake off his emotions with a witty comment. "Yeah, but don't get any ideas. It's only because you're the only good female dancer here currently. And I don't want to search around for someone else. I guess since you're a bratty princess and all, you're supposed to dance well."

Peach looked at him long and hard. "Alright. Suit yourself." Peach let Roy take her in his arms again. "And the feeling's mutual. You're the only good dancer here currently."

Roy took off again in lead and Peach followed. They didn't look at each other, but they both had heavenly smiles on their faces.

**In the Garden**

Samus leaned against the blue, wooden bridge. She shuffled her feet against the foundation of the bridge back and forth. She had been doing this for some time now. Occasionally she would look up at Marth to see him either looking off into space or either watching Samus shuffle her feet. She didn't know what to say to him. But she wasn't the one who was supposed to say anything. He was the one who asked her to talk. Marth looked at Samus messing with her shoes again. He didn't realize it was going to be this hard to talk to her. He tried to look at Samus' face. Bad mistake. As he looked at her, he met Samus' eyes. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Samus cut her eyes away from him and went back down to her feet. Marth sighed. It was either now or never. "Samus. I think you know why I wanted to talk to you."

She nodded. "Mm-hmm. It seems we both made mistakes about each other…again. This seems to always happen to us. It's like a curse."

"I noticed this too. It makes me wonder sometimes if…" Marth's voice faded out. He didn't want to tell her. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"It makes you wonder if we should be together at all right?" She asked.

Marth panicked. "No, Sam. I don't mean those words exactly. I really don't feel like us together is a waste of time and..."

"No, Marth it's okay. It's just I was thinking the exact same thing." Samus walked closely over to Marth. "It's been bugging me. Ever since we had that fight yesterday. That useless fight made me realize something."

"Did it make you wonder, if maybe we rushed into a relationship too fast?" Marth saw Samus nod slowly. He chuckled. "It's funny how well we think alike."

Samus agreed. "And then it's weird how we argue a lot. What does it all mean?"

Marth shrugged. "Listen. What I really wanted to say to you is I'm sorry for accusing you of kissing Link. I was wrong and you were right. I should have trusted you."

"Yes, you should have." Samus said. "But I'm not any better. I didn't trust you either. I really thought you were the one who sliced me. And I apologize for doubting you."

"You know I forgive you, Sam." Marth turned and leaned against the railing of the bridge and looked out at the pond below it. "You were right, you know?"

Samus refrained from looking out at the pond, and stared up at Marth. "Right about what?"

"Everyone kept telling me I was, but I kept denying it. I really was jealous of Link and maybe I still am." Marth said slowly. "It doesn't make sense. He's one of my good friends. Regardless, you and Link still seem to be much closer than you and I are. So, I thought that maybe Link was taking you away from me. And when I saw that whole kiss scene, I assumed I was right."

Samus felt guilty. "Why didn't you tell me this Marth? If you didn't like me so close to Link you should have told me."

"I can answer that." Marth replied. "I knew if I came to tell you that, you would say I was being paranoid and acting jealous. And that's exactly what you did remember?"

Samus thought back to the argument. The moment she said that to Marth yesterday came back to her. "Oh, I did. It was only because I was so mad at you. I didn't know what to say to you. Back when you started yelling at me and accusing me, I really just wanted to break down. But I didn't want to look like an idiot. I thought my life would end at that point."

Marth sighed. "But then you met Garrett. And all your troubles just drifted away and you forgot all about me."

Samus continued to stare out at the lake. "For a moment, it seemed that way. Yes, Garrett was sort of like a knight in shining armor." Samus watched Marth raise an eyebrow at that comment through the corner of her eye. "I'm just being honest. He was very nice. He was a gentleman and sincere. He was caring and understanding. He reminded me of you."

"I would have never thought that." Marth retorted. "Peach described Garrett as if he were Mr. Perfect."

Samus giggled. "You know Peach can exaggerate a lot. And maybe I did put my trust in Garrett too soon, and maybe Link does know a bit more about me than you do. But to tell you the truth, even though I don't share everything with you, I feel the closest to you. After tonight and what you did to try and save me, I am certain I can put all my trust in you. Really." she confessed, making Marth smile.

But then her own smile dropped and she fell silent. Marth stared at her, but didn't say anything. Her hands were trembling. He could tell something was wrong because he could see the sadness in her eyes. "Is there something else?" he asked.

Samus looked up at Marth. "I have a question for you. And you have to be perfectly honest with me. Say the first answer that comes to your mind."

Marth sat on the railing and gave her his undivided attention. "I'm listening."

Samus got off the railing and stood in front of him. "As you know, your Marth clone tried to kill me just because it knew you were jealous of Link and you wanted to take it out on me. And you know Garrett had a small passion for me and while he had the device on his neck, he tried to make me his. And he tried to kill you in order to get you out of the way, right?"

Marth was wishing he didn't remember that moment. "Unfortunately yes. What does that have to do with…" Marth stopped in mid sentence. He saw Samus breaking down in tears. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"I-I want t-to know." Her fear of his response was affecting her voice. Her mouth was trembling. She looked at him with worry. "If you were ever to find out, someone was hitting on me and I didn't drive him away, would you either attack the guy or would you take it out on me?" she blurted out.

Marth looked at Samus crazily. It was a very odd question for the young swordsman. It made him wonder what she was trying to get at. "What are you trying to say, Sam? Is there someone else?"

Samus' eyes widened. "No! There isn't! Please don't think that! I'd never want to do that to you!" she said hysterically.

Marth didn't expect such a reaction. "Calm down, Samus. It was just a question."

"Then just answer mine!" Samus watched Marth still staring at her as if she was creeping him out. Samus couldn't take the silence. "Answer the question! I'm not going to be mad with either choice. I just want to know. When you fought Garrett and he told you everything about the attack on Serine Isle, you had this look on your face like you were going to tear him apart. I had never seen you like that and it scared me a bit. It reminded of how terrified I was when the Marth clone attacked me on Serine Isle. The clones are supposed to be just like their original, and so this bothered me. If I weren't the one injured, would you have gone after me instead of Garrett like the clone did? Either me or Garrett, I know you would have done one of the options."

Marth watched Samus break down in frustrated tears and start trembling as if she was shaken up by something. He sighed. He did the only things he could think of doing at a time like this. He slowly put his arms around her shoulders and held her close to him. She slowly stopped crying. She tried to look up at him but she stopped because Marth wouldn't let her look up at him yet. He wanted her to just stay still in his arms for a moment. She stood still as she let his fingers run through her blonde hair. Her tears started to evaporate as she rested her head on his chest. Marth opened his mouth. "Sam. How can you be so stupid?"

Samus was able to look up at him, as she got free from his grasp. Marth cupped her chin in his hands. "That's a foolish question to ask. You should know the answer to that."

Samus shook her head. "I don't. So which one is it?"

"I'm going to have to reply with neither." Marth smiled down at the bounty hunter."As much as some of the boys who talk to you irk me, I could never think about trying to hurt them. Garrett really pushed me to the limit of wanting to kill him, but when you stopped me, I was reminded of the non-violent person I want to be." He used his finger to wipe some of the running tears off her face. ""As for you, I would never try to hurt you, Samus. I wouldn't even try to think about such a ridiculous thing. That would mean I would mess up this beautiful face that brightens my day. Apparently that clone didn't possess the ability to value you to the degree that I do."

Samus didn't believe him. "How can you say that? You're not being honest with me."

Marth frowned. "No, you're not being honest with me. Samus, I just don't know why you would think about such things. I don't know where I would be if something happened to you or if I was the cause." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not joking when I say I care for you a lot. And when I care for someone, I am willing to protect them from all wrong. You still think I would hurt you, Samus?"

Samus looked Marth straight in the eye. She closed her eyes and ended her tears. "No. How can I ever think that?" Samus' answer was Marth giving her a small kiss on the cheek. She blushed a bit.

Marth smiled at this. "People can think the craziest things when they're in love."

Samus' eyes finally started to get their shimmer back. Without thinking much about it, she planted her lips on Marth and drove him into a long passionate kiss. He responded by putting his arms around her waist and she put her arms around his neck. The long kiss ended very slowly. Samus started to slowly catch her breath. When she regained her regular breathing. She smiled at her boyfriend. "You don't know how long I've been wanting to do that."

Marth continued to hold the bounty hunter in his arms. "I feel the same."

"What are we going to do?" Samus asked in a whisper.

"I don't know. But don't worry about it. We'll find a way to settle our own little individual priorities that are pulling us apart. Everything will work out." Marth let go of her. He looked in the direction of the party. "We better head back to the party before we're missed."

"Right." Samus linked her arm with Marth's as they started to slowly walk back to the party. As Samus rested her head on Marth's shoulder, she wished her and Marth could just leave and run away together. But Samus knew she would miss her friends at SSBM. There were many problems Samus knew she would face if she continued to live at the mansion. But as long as Marth was with her, she knew it would be okay.

**On The Shore**

"I didn't know there was a beach here. And its right behind the resort. I have to remember that."

Link watched Zelda let her toes get wet by the tides coming on shore. "I found this beach some time ago. It kind of creeps me out to stay on the shore at night."

Zelda looked back at her friend. "Wel,l it is kind of creepy. But when you're not alone, you don't have that feeling anymore."

Link got up from the sand and walked over to Zelda. He stopped right next to her and watched the tides come in. The waves were calm and quiet. He looked at Zelda. _She has that smile on her face again. She has about seven different smiles. And this is her best one. The one where she feels free and when she's happy. I've never seen anyone as beautiful as her...inside and out. _

"Link?"

Link stopped his thoughts to see Zelda's attention on him. "There was something you wanted to talk about? We need to hurry and talk about it and get back to the party."

Link nodded. "Right. Well it's…"

Zelda's wrist communicator started to beep. She pressed the button. "Yes?"

_Zellie! Where are you? You have to open the presents now._

"Oh. Okay, Peach. I'll be right there." She turned the communicator off. "We'll have to talk later, Link."

"But …but…" he stammered.

Zelda walked off. "We can talk tomorrow when the party's over and I have a bit more energy, okay?"

Link grabbed Zelda's arm. "No, we need to talk now. Please, Zelda. I need to talk you about all these things that have been happening since Veronica arrived."

Zelda stopped struggling to get her arm free. This was a subject she would love to stay and talk about. "Okay. I'm listening."

"Well, let me start by apologizing for everything. I don't even know how many times I have to say sorry for not believing you, Princess."

"One apology will cover it. And stop calling me princess. You know I hate that."

"Right. I'm sorry. Just couldn't resist." Link smiled. "Veronica did seem like a nice girl. And in reality she was. But not when we met her."

Zelda had to agree. "I know. It was strange to see her sweet side. I wonder how she's doing. She barely has anyone now. I know she has her brother and mother, but I think she had a real close relationship with her father. Just like me and my father used to have."

Link fiddled with his brown gloves. "Zelda, I wanted to know something. What drove you into wanting to kill me on the mountain?"

Zelda blushed. "You want me to answer that question?"

"If you could, that would be nice."

Zelda didn't know how to answer his question. "I knew Veronica really liked you. But I couldn't let someone like her continue to live in this world and ruin more lives. So I felt like I had to kill her. But then I knew how much in love you were with her, so I thought… it would be better if I killed you as well. Then you two could be together."

"Zelda. There are better ways to approach a problem."

"I know! I know. But I just wasn't thinking." Her face was hot. She blinked her frustration away as the wind blew her blonde hair. "If it makes you feel any better, I was going to kill myself right after that."

Link looked at Zelda in shock. "Not really. Why would you do that?" he exclaimed.

"I… I…" She shut her eyes. "I just couldn't live with myself."

She looked away from him. Link tried to look at her. Zelda was hiding something. "You couldn't live with yourself because why?"

"I just couldn't!" She snapped.

Link frowned. "Zelda, we've known each other for a long time. We've always been honest with each other. And right now, you're not telling me something. I can tell when you're lying." Link turned her around to face him. "Now why is the reason you wanted to kill yourself?"

Zelda started to get nervous. _I'm too afraid to tell him. I can' move… I'm not ready._" I don't want to talk about it." Zelda stepped away from him. "That was the reason."

Link was getting irritated. "Zelda, tell me the truth. You never lie to me."

"I'm not lying!" She snapped.

"Yes, you are. You're turning into a little liar." Link said angrily. "I'm your friend. You're supposed to tell me the truth on anything."

"I am!" Zelda couldn't stand there anymore. "Just leave me alone!" She all of sudden took off down the beach.

"Zelda, wait!" Link called.

Zelda plugged her ears. "Just shut-up and leave me alone!" She broke off into a sprint. She found herself running faster than usual and she assumed it was because she wasn't wearing heels. Her sandals were flat to the ground. "I don't want to hear it!" She continued to run. Her ears picked up on Link's heavy stomps in the ocean from his Kokiri boots. This pushed Zelda to run even faster. She would keep running until he would finally stop. The sounds of his boots were getting closer and closer. She thought maybe he was running faster. She looked down at her feet and noticed she was slowing down. And it wasn't because she was tiring.

_What's wrong with me? I'm not out of energy. I can outrun him a bit longer. But my feet are slowing down. But why? _Zelda was so wrapped up in her thoughts she failed to notice she slowed down even more. This caused Link to ram into her, and knock both of them down onto the sand. Link landed on his side slightly on top of Zelda.

Link felt a small pain in his arm from falling. He watched Zelda scramble up from the sand and try to get away, but he wasn't going to let her get away. Before she could start running, Link recovered quickly and grabbed her arm. He stood up and tightened his grip so she would be stable. But Zelda was struggling a lot to get free.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"No! Not till you tell me what's wrong!" he shouted back. Link felt odd while yelling at Zelda. They hardly ever fought. But the longer he was having to try and keep her still, the more it came to realization that Zelda had lost trust in him. He was determined to get it back.

"Why do you care? It's none of your business! Just leave me alone. You don't need to know _everything _that goes on in my life!"

Link grunted as he kept trying to restrain the princess. "Zelda! This is me you're talking to!"

"I'm quite aware of that and that doesn't change anything! Just get out of my business!" Zelda snapped.

Link watched as Zelda gave him one of the wickedest glares he had ever seen. And what was worse was it came from Zelda. Zelda had turned from sweet angel to evil witch! Zelda's stubbornness made Link say something he wished he hadn't. "You may have not liked her Zelda! But you're acting just like Veronica did when she had that device on her. You're acting with evil in your heart."

Zelda gasped and became enraged. She lifted a hand and smacked Link across the face lightning fast! She could feel the impact of the blow sprout through her fingers like little shockwaves. But she didn't care. "DON'T YOU EVER COMPARE TO THAT WITCH! DO YOU HEAR ME!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

Link was holding his left cheek that was surging in pain. He removed his hand and saw Zelda had left a very tiny cut on his face. He looked at her in amazement before giving her a very furious look. "What the heck is going on with you, Zelda!"

Zelda looked at his cut on his face. Then she looked at her hands. _What's wrong with me? I just struck one of my best friends. He didn't do anything to me and I yelled at him. He just wanted to know what's wrong with me. I now know why I slowed down when he was running after me. I wanted him to catch me. I wanted him to come after me because I really want to tell him about the feeling in my heart. But now… _Zelda let out a small cry as she collapsed to the ground in tears. She fell on her knees and fell over like she was bowing, but she was using her hands to cover her face. "Link I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to slap you! I'm so, so, sorry."

Link slowly sat down on his knees next to the Princess. "Zelda. It's okay. I'll admit I wasn't helping the situation. But something is worrying you and it's worrying me badly, Zelda. I want to know why you're acting like this."

Zelda didn't lift her head just yet. "You asked me earlier why I tried to kill myself. The reason why is because I knew I couldn't live without you, Link. You're the reason I'm still alive to this day. You've been helping me ever since we were kids. You're the only one who would listen to me when I was still at Hyrule Castle." She choked her tears back and raised her head to look at Link. He was still listening. She continued. "I already told you when Ganondorf had me, I was scared. But then you came and then when you fought him in his other form I thought I was going to lose you to him. It ties into what was happening with you and Veronica. I thought you were going to leave me and go off with her, forgetting all about me. It tore me apart. And that's what led me into making that decision to kill myself. I wanted us to be together. I may be the princess, but I still follow you, Link."

Zelda took a deep breath. "I've always been afraid to say it. But you don't realize how much you mean to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is…I really like you a lot, Link. I really want be with you always. That's why I ran from you. I was scared of what you might think of me." She ended there. She looked at Link. He was looking at her with an odd look on his face. He didn't say a word. She sighed. "Okay, I just embarrassed myself, by expressing my feelings I have for you." She shook her head. "It was stupid to tell you this. You're probably thinking what is this foolish little girl talking about?" She chuckled. "I'm not even sure what I'm babbling about." She sighed and stood up. "Maybe I'll see you later."

"Zelda?"

Zelda flipped around and met with Link's lips pressing against hers. Zelda didn't expect this but she returned the kiss. She closed her eyes and let Link deepen the kiss. She cleared out all her other troubling thoughts and let Link continue to kiss her. He broke the kiss soon and stopped to catch his breath. He smiled. "Wow…"

Zelda smiled too. "Wow indeed." Her face was rosy pink. "You're a really good kisser." She dropped her smile. "Does it mean you forgive me?"

Link shrugged. "Well yeah." He stared into the princess's sapphire blue eyes. "But it means much more than that, Zelda. It means I really want to be with you too. This is why I wanted to talk to you. But just like you said before, I was the same. I was afraid of how you would react if I told you I liked you."

"Probably the same way you just did." Zelda said with a small laugh. "But I did have my doubts. With Veronica around..."

"My thoughts never changed. I may have thought I liked her, but my feelings for her were nowhere near as strong as the ones I have for you. I feel like an idiot for not realizing it."

"Can't argue with you there." Zelda answered with a smirk.

Link returned with a playful grin. "I get it, I was an idiot. It's been drilled in my head for almost two whole days now. You could at least sympathize with me."

"I'll try harder in the future." Zelda warmly replied.

Link chuckled. "The future huh? Then we have to seal this relationship for a good long time." Link got down on one knee in front of Zelda. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Zelda's eyes widened as Link opened the box to reveal a shining diamond ring with silver trim and a pink gem in the middle of the diamonds.

"Oh, Nayru." Zelda looked down at Link as he held the ring. "What are you...Link, are you going to propose to me?"

"Hmm?" Link looked at her and laughed. "No. Are you serious Zelda? It's your birthday present I bought for you. It was a friendship ring, but now that this has happened it can be much more than that. It's a ring that will seal our relationship, so everyone will know. So… Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Zelda looked down at Link. She nodded. "Yes, Link, Hero Of Time." She giggled. "I will be your girlfriend."

Link smiled. "Zel, you have made me a happy guy And maybe one day, if you're good, I'll propose to you!"

"Oh, whatever!" She laughed, before she looked out to the beach. "Wow… just like I saw it."

Link watched the ocean too. "What did you see?"

Zelda forgot Link's ears could hear just as well as hers. "Oh. Well… don't laugh. Earlier on, I had this dream we were sitting on the beach. Except it was a sunset. And then while we were sitting here you told me how you felt about me and then you asked me to be your girlfriend."

"And I hope you said yes?" Link asked.

"Oh, you know I did." Zelda said. "Oh yes, and then we almost kissed, but then I woke up."

"Really? Too bad? So, maybe you can give me a visual of how you almost kissed me?" Link suggested flirtaciously.

Zelda knew what that meant. She tried to kiss him again but she lost her footing, by tripping over a rock. She lost her balance and knocked Link down on his back and she landed on top of him. The tide rushed in and it soaked both of them. Zelda face flushed an even redder color. Her hands fluttered over his handsome face as the two laughed in their soaked clothing. "Sorry, I don't think the dream was supposed to go like that." she giggled.

Link just laughed and brought her head to his. "We're heading for an interesting relationship." And with that he kissed her again. The two kissed much longer than the first time. They were so busy kissing they didn't hear the footsteps coming near them.

"Well… that's one gift to give a girl on her birthday."

Zelda gasped and immediately stopped kissing Link. She looked up and saw all her friends. She realized it was Roy who made the comment. Peach, Samus, and Marth were just looking down at them and trying to contain their laughter.

Link didn't mean to, but he roughly pushed Zelda off of him. "Uh, hey guys… what's up?" he said nervously. It was Link's turn to be embarrassed as his friends started laughing to no end.

Marth smirked. "I think that should be our question for you two."

Samus smiled at Zelda as she helped the girl off the ground. "Having fun?" Zelda was really embarrassed, so she only nodded. Samus looked at the ring on Zelda's finger. "Is that an engagement ring?"

Zelda smiled. "No. It's just a ring to seal our relationship." she said.

"So what you're saying is…"

Peach cut Samus off. "You two are a couple now?" She exclaimed. Zelda nodded. Peach squealed. "AAAAAHHHHHHH!" She hugged Zelda quickly. "Finally! I'm so happy!"

Samus winked at Zelda. "Told you it would be a good birthday gift."

Zelda winked back. "Of course. You're always right!"

Marth nudged Link. "So…what did you to do to her while we were gone?" He said with a mischievous grin on his face.

Link frowned. "Marth, that's sick. You're sounding like Roy."

Marth laughed. "Just kidding Link. All in good fun."

Roy smirked. "Yeah, all in good fun."

Link looked back and saw all the partygoers were here. "What did they see?"

"Not much. They just saw when you were kissing her the second time." Roy explained, "I think they even taped it."

Link and Zelda didn't think they could be even more embarrassed. But as they looked at each other, they started to laugh and so did their friends. "So..." Link began. "What are you guys doing out here anyway?"

Peach decided to explain. "Zelda didn't come when I told her to come open presents. Then Young Link told me you and Zelda were talking on the beach, so I decided to bring the party out here." She started bursting out laughing. "But we didn't expect to see you two making out on the ocean shore." Peach looked at Zelda. "And by the way, nice approach to a kiss, Zellie."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Like you could do any better."

Peach put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me, I…"

"Girls, I would love for you two to continue this conversation," Samus said as she stepped in between them. "But we still have a party going on. Why don't we finish it?"

Zelda and Peach nodded. They'd finish this much later. "Oh right. Let's go." Zelda grabbed her boyfriend's hand and then they walked off together to the new party on the beach.

Zelda received many gifts for her birthday. Jewelry came from the younger smashers. Luigi gave Zelda one of his crazy inventions. Fox and Falco bought some very exotic jewelry from Sauria. Mr. Game & Watch baked some cupcakes for Zelda. Zelda could have sworn she saw one of them hop. Captain Falcon bought her a tight body suit similar to his. He didn't only receive a slap in the face from Zelda, but a beating from both Peach and Samus. DK had made a fruit basket for her. Kirby bought her some books on Romance. Marth and Roy bought her some battling gloves and some new equipment for when she turns into Sheik. Pichu and Pikachu put together a bouquet of wild flowers for her. Pichu placed one of the flowers in Zelda's hair to wear. All her other fellow smashers got her jewelry or clothes from their world. Samus gave her gift last. She handed it to Zelda. It was a charm bracelet. And each charm was one of the smashers' symbols.

"Thanks, you guys." Zelda said as she put the bracelet around her wrist. "These are really great gifts."

"Can we cut that cake now?" Yoshi exclaimed. "I'm starving!"

Zelda nodded. "I'm with Yoshi on this one. I'm ready for cake."

The crowd of people surrounded the cake. Zelda stood in the middle of the crowd. They sang the birthday song to her and then clapped right after.

"Okay. Make a wish, Zelda." Link said.

Zelda nodded. She closed her eyes and thought about her wish. She took a large breath and…

BOOM!

The cake exploded everywhere. It flew in everyone's faces, clothes, hair, everywhere. It was a sugary explosion! When Zelda looked around. Everyone was covered in cake. She frowned. "This has Ganondorf and Bowser written all over it."

Young Link's ears picked up on some snickering. He looked over at the bushes. Young Link pulled out his bow and his flaming arrows. He aimed and shot the bushes. They lit on fire and he saw the two of them run out. Ganondorf's cape was on fire and Bowser's tail was like a firecracker burning. Young Link tugged at Zelda's dress and pointed at the criminals. "Found them."

Peach crossed her arms. "I knew they were up to something."

Zelda and everyone else glared at them. Ganondorf and Bowser looked at the angry crowd. Bowser gave a hesitant laugh. "Pretty good joke. Huh, Zelda?"

Zelda didn't say anything. But Peach did. She pulled out her frying pan. "I'll show you whats about to be funny!" She lunged for them but Master Hand stopped her. He was covered in the most cake. His fingertips were jolting. "No need, Peach. I'll handle this. When I'm done with them they'll know the true meaning of a good joke!" He started to shoot lasers and lightning bolts out of his fingers. Ganondorf and Bowser ran off screaming with Master Hand chasing after them. Everyone started to laugh.

"Well." Samus took some of the cake out of her hair. "So much for dessert."

Zelda shrugged. "Oh, who needs cake anyway?"

"I do!" Yoshi cried.

Peach laughed. "Don't worry. I have an extra made. I knew they were up to something. So, let's have cake.

Everyone cheered.

After the cake was eaten. Zelda and her friends danced for a very long time and then they went out to be by themselves. It was going to be a quiet moment to talk, but Samus and Marth grew a wee bit angry at Roy for spying on a private little conversation the two were having. This caused them to push Roy into the ocean and then Roy pulled them in with him. And for no reason, Zelda, Peach, and Link were dragged into the argument. They were eventually in the ocean themselves. But it turned out to be fun after that as they played in the beach water. Zelda knew this was one birthday she wouldn't forget.

**Two Days Later**

Samus pushed down hard on her suitcase. "Come on. Stay shut!"

She sighed and sat down on the suitcase. After the recent events that had been happening, Master Hand decided it was best to go back home. So, now all the smashers were sitting at the airport waiting for the plane to arrive. She didn't mind. There were a few days where Samus had fun. She didn't get to spend everyday with Marth, but the two days she spent with him after they made up were very entertaining and...intimate. She blushed as she thought of the romance, but quickly stopped when she remembered the problem that was sitting under her. She sighed and sat down on her suitcase, which wouldn't seem to stay shut.

"Need an extra rear?" a female voice said.

Samus looked up and saw Peach. She smiled. She scooted a bit. "Yes. That would be a big help."

Peach was not wearing her puffy pink dress at all. She hadn't worn her crown since Zelda's party. She was now dressed in blue jeans and red-orange tank top with shoes to match. She sat down on the suitcase next to the bounty hunter dressed in a red and white stylish sweatsuit. Her hair was back in its tomboyish ponytail. "So, Sammie. We're heading back."

"Yep. Today's the day. What a relief." She sighed defeated. "Oh, who am I kidding? I wish we really didn't have to go back. Things will go back to normal for me."

"What do you mean?" the princess asked.

"Well, I'm going to have to go back to my missions and Marth's going to have to go back to Altea every now and then. We'll hardly ever see each other. This trip brought us together."

"I suggest that maybe the both of you should find some days to spend together." Peach advised her. "Otherwise you'll go back to the way you two were before. You get what I'm saying?"

"Yes. But I don't know if I can just alter my missions. They come when they can. I never know when they're going to come up. They just do." She replied.

"That's tough, Sam. You have to make the decision on your own then. What do you enjoy more? You work or your boyfriend?" Peach was hoping Samus would pick the right answer. She sighed. "If I were you, I would drop the job."

"My job? Why?"

"Well there are three reasons. Reason number one, they work you very hard on those missions and then you come home tired and go straight to sleep. Reason number two, you already have the job of being a smasher in SSBM and do a pretty good job of being one. And reason number three is, if you do the missions you have a 65.9 percent chance of keeping Marth as your boyfriend. And it will be hard to find another guy as great as he is."

"Sixty-Five point nine percent? Where did you come up with such an odd number?" Samus asked as she tapped the side of her suitcase.

"I calculated. I'm good with boyfriend percentages. Plus, shopping and dancing and other things girls fantasize about." Peach explained.

Samus rolled her eyes. "Of course. Why wouldn't you be?" She looked up at the cloudy sky. "Okay. I'll think about it. Speaking of fashion, are we going to talk about this "fashion sense" you criticized my clone about, thinking it was me? Hmm?" she challenged Peach.

Peach blushed. "Oh, that? Well, you see..." Peach suddenly waved. "Look it's Zelda! Yoo-Hoo, Zelda!" she avoided conflict once again.

Zelda waved, unsure of why she was waving when she saw Peach less than a few minutes ago. Zelda walked over to them with Samus' computer in her hand. "Sam, Fox wanted me to give this back to you. What was he using it for?"

Samus shrugged. "I don't know. Every now and then he uses it to call to his ship The Great Fox. At least I think that's what it's called. Falco said he's always talking to someone very close to him, so I just let Fox use it." She looked at her computer as Zelda handed it back. "It's beeping."

"Its been beeping ever since I left Fox's room. What does it mean?"

Samus didn't answer. She sat back down on the bench of the airport and checked the beeping noise. "It means I have an email. Probably for a mission."

"What's an email?" Zelda asked.

Peach took care of the question. "It's electronic mail. Not literally. You can call them letters if you want. It's sort like how you write letters and then you send them to a friend?" Zelda nodded, indicating she understood. Peach continued on. "The only difference is these letters are sent by computers and they're sent much faster than by mail delivery."

Zelda understood. "Oh. So its faster transportation."

"Exactly."

"Oh no." Samus murmured.

The two princesses looked over at their friend. She was looking at her small computer in disbelief. "This can't be right."

Zelda looked over Samus' shoulder. "What can't be right?"

Samus looked up at Zelda. "This letter was sent by Garrett."

"What's wrong with getting letters from him?" Peach asked.

"I didn't give him the email address to this computer. Or the code. And get this. He's still here at the Nintendo Festival. In fact, he's somewhere amongst these planes at a plane called… Windansea? I guess that's how you say it. But he left this email because he says he wants to talk to me."

"Ooh…that cannot be good." Peach said quietly. "Do you think he's still trying to get with you?"

Samus shook her head. "No, he couldn't be." She twirled some of her blonde hair around her index finger. "But let's just forget about it okay? I'll just delete it and we'll never mention it again."

"Samus Aran! The brave and fearless Samus Aran is scared to talk to a guy?" Zelda clasped her hands together and propped them on her lap as she sat down in her new light blue sundress. "I think you should go talk to him. You need to tell him you and Marth are back together and he cannot continue to flirt with you."

"And remember to be sincere about it." Peach added. "He could be a very sensitive guy. And I mean a very sensitive guy in the bad term. Like he may try to hurt somebody. So, tell him with calmness in your voice."

Samus bit her lip. "Thank you, Peach. Now you've made me even more unconfident." She looked back at Zelda. "Let's just forget it."

Zelda shook her head. "No. You have to tell him."

Samus sighed. "Okay. But come with me for moral support."

"Sure."

Samus stood up and closed her computer. "If Marth comes and asks for me, tell him I went to the bathroom or something. If I take longer than 15 minutes, send someone to find us."

Zelda folded her arms behind her back. "Nothing is going to happen, Sam."

Peach nodded. "Okay. But hurry back. The plane leaves in 30 minutes." She got off of Samus' suitcase and sat on the bench as the two girls left. Before she could take a breather, she saw Marth, Link, and Roy coming into view. Peach gasped. "Already? I haven't even thought of what to say."

**The Windansea Jet**

Samus gulped. She saw Garrett in plain view. He was leaning against a pole and to top it off, Veronica was with him. She was playing with the clone Pichu from yesterday. Zelda started to push her friend towards the plane. "Come on, Sam. You can do it. What are you so worried about?"

"It's nothing. I don't know why I'm worried." She took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready."

Samus stood on her own without her friend pushing her. When she was close enough, she saw Garrett look up at Samus. He smiled and waved. "Hey, Sam. Glad you made it."

"Wish I could say the same thing." She said while gritting her teeth. Luckily he didn't hear it.

Zelda saw Veronica. "Hey, Veronica."

Veronica looked up. "Hi."

Zelda smiled. _I still can't believe that I'm talking to her like this. It's just too weird. _"What's going on?" Zelda felt a sharp nudge in her back. She saw Samus giving her a look asking her what she was doing. Zelda frowned. "He wants to talk to you alone. Now go talk to him." She whispered.

Samus sighed in defeat and drug herself slowly over to Garrett. She stopped a few feet away from him. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, I do. I want to talk about what happened while I had that device on my neck. I know that I tried to get you to fall in love with me. And then I tried to kiss you and then I almost hurt you." Garrett ended. "And I'm just apologizing to you for everything that happened to you while I was being controlled."

"You know that wasn't your fault." She told him.

"Yes it was. I fell for my sister's trick and I allowed her and my father to put that accursed thing on me. And then it interfered with your life."

Samus shoved her hands in her pockets. "Can't argue about you interfering. But again, not your fault"

"It doesn't matter. I felt guilty. You see, Samus. I told you all I was leaving for my mother's place a few days ago. But I got caught up in some last minute work. But while I was working, I could not stop thinking about you."

"Garrett…please." Samus wanted to leave so badly.

Garrett sensed this and grabbed her hand. "Don't leave just yet, Sam. I want you to hear this." He looked at her in the face. "Samus, while I was controlled, I was acting out my real feelings for you. I really do have these strong feelings for you, and I didn't want to leave without letting you know about them and I wanted to hear your response."

Samus turned the color of a red rose. "Garrett, it's sweet of you tell me this. And back when I was angry with Marth, I may have been even more flattered. But as you know..."

"I know you and Marth made up. But I also know the truth on what you two agreed on." Garrett exclaimed. "I'm not going to mention it out loud. But I will tell you this, Samus. I don't want to give up on loving you."

Samus tried to get her arm free gently without upsetting him. Her stomach felt like it had butterflies. "I know you'll find someone else to replace me."

Garrett gently grabbed both her hands and stared into her eyes. "I never will find anyone else. There's no one else in this world like you." He could see Samus was feeling uncomfortable. He sighed and dropped her hands. "But I'll continue to not interfere with your relationship with him. You two are together right now and I respect that. Like I told you when I first met you. I'll never try to take you away from Marth. I admire Marth. He's a very good person to you and he respects girls and their needs. He's really lucky to have you."

Samus finally was her normal complexion . "Thank you for respecting that space." She looked at her watch. "Listen, I have to go now. So, this is it." She held out her hand.

Garrett laughed. "I doubt that." He shook her hand, but it was more like he was massaging it. "I will miss you, Miss Samus."

Samus knew she was going to turn red again, so she turned quickly. _I'm glad I can resist him much better than I could before. If I didn't make up with Marth I would probably be smothering him in kisses._ Samus walked off.

"One more thing, Samus." Garrett called. "If he ever does anything to you or leaves, I'll still be around."

"I'll keep that mind." She answered without turning around. Her confidence and bravery returned. "I have one more thing for you too. Don't wait on me, Garrett. Find someone else. I'm positive that Marth and I are going to be together for a very long time." Samus continued to walk. He didn't respond to her comment. _Maybe he's thinking about what I said. Or maybe he didn't listen at all. He's just like Captain Falcon in a way. He never gives up. But unlike Falcon he's more respectable towards women and he won't rush them into anything. _Samus smiled as she thought of Marth._ But I already have someone who is better than two of them combined. _

"So what are you going to do now. Veronica?" Zelda asked.

"Well, with my father gone, I'll start a new life with my mother. Maybe when I see Katy again, we can start over. I hope she can forgive me for the accident." Veronica stroked the clone Pichu in her arms.

Zelda smiled. "I'm sure she will. From what I've seen from the two days without the mind-controlling device, how could she not someone like you. You're really a nice and sweet girl. Very different for the girl I met."

Veronica laughed. "Thanks. I still can't believe we're talking like this. This is the way it should have been from the beginning." Veronica turned around and saw her brother coming back. "I guess it's time to go." She turned back to Zelda. "It was so nice to meet on different circumstances than before. Maybe we'll meet again."

"Possibly." Zelda said. She was cut off by a hug.

"Thank you." Veronica whispered. "Thank you for freeing me from that nightmare."

Zelda stood there for a moment. Again, she found this to be one of the most bizarre things ever. She had gone from Veronica grabbing her by the collar and threatening her to a kinder Veronice hugging her and declaring her gratitude. Was it a dream? If it were, Zelda didn't want to wake up. She'd rather face this Veronica than the one she had come to know over the past few weeks. She then returned the hug. "Anytime."

Veronica sighed and let go of the princess. She turned around to face Samus. "I have thank you too, Samus."

Samus gave her a light smile. "It was nothing."

"No. It was because of you and my brother's teamwork, you found out how to stop me. Plus all your other friends too."

Samus cut her eyes past Veronica. "Um…yeah…sure."

"You and Garrett were like the perfect duo." Veronica added.

Zelda eyed Samus at that comment, but Samus kept her composure. "Please don't say that."

Veronica didn't reply to the remark. "Can you tell them I said thank you for their help? Well ,I must be going now. Bye, girls." Veronica skipped off to the plane with the clone Pichu in her arms. She followed her brother Garrett and they walked up the ascending stairs into the jet. Samus watched them give one last wave, but she saw Garrett staring at her. They climbed into the jet and in under a minute the jet took off into the sky.

As they left, Samus crossed her arms. "What a weird family."

Zelda shoved her elbow into Samus' side. "Sam! That's not nice." Secretly, Zelda felt the same way. The two took off towards their own plane. After a while of walking, Zelda spoke. "So what did Garrett want?"

"Nothing important. He just confessed his undying love for me." Samus said flatly.

"I'd say that's very important." Zelda looked at Samus through the corner of her eye. "And how did you respond to him?"

Samus kept her gaze forward. "I just told him what you said."

"And?" Zelda asked.

"Well, he took it well. In the sense that he said he loves me, but he would put his love on pause until Marth and I crash and burn or something. His reason was he knew we made up, but he said he also knew what Marth and me agreed on. But I don't know how he could possibly know."

"What did you two agree on?" Zelda said

Samus stopped walking and face her friend. "We agreed to no longer date."

"What? No longer date?" Zelda repeated.

"Only temporarily." Samus explained.

Zelda didn't care about that statement. "Temporarily or not. I don't understand. You two were so close last night at the party. How did that happen?"

"It happened after you and everyone else went to bed. Marth called me in the middle of the night and said we needed to talk again. And so we did. We talked about each other and our lives and then it came down to the fact that we shouldn't be dating so exclusively."

"Why?"

"As you know, Zel, I've been having problems with guys like Garrett. I'm still slightly attracted to them and to be honest, there might still be a little lingering feeling of care for Garrett. I'm sure it'll pass in time. Either way, I found out from Marth that even he has moments where he would flirt with another girl. Not that I already didn't know this, of course. Roy has such a mouth on him. And so you see, that's basically why. Mewtwo told us right, we got together too quickly. Until we can get past our uncertain feelings, we decided not to date each other again like we used to. We may do a few things together, but only like small, meaningless dates. Dates that don't mean we have to be in a relationship." Samus ended.

Zelda just stared. "I can't believe you just told me that. You guys seem the most sure about each other. Is this what you think Garrett knows is going on between you and Marth?"

"I'm guessing. So now I'm vulnerable to him, aren't I?"

"Pretty much. But you have to stay strong, Sam. Don't give in to his attractive looks. Look past them and remember who his relatives were and his perverted bar friends."

Samus laughed nervously at that. "That'll definitely be something to keep in mind. But don't worry. I'm sure we'll start dating like we used to sooner or later. But until then, I'll just have to be sharp."

Peach looked up and saw her friends returning. "There you two are. Your guys are looking for you. They took your suitcases to the plane already. I told them you both were freshening yourself up. They're standing by the plane I think."

"Okay. Come on. We better get on the plane too." Samus helped Peach off the bench and the three of them walked over to the plane.

"So ends our lovely vacation." Zelda said as she waved to Link, waiting for her by the plane as Peach said. "Think we'll get another one?"

"Not for a very, very long time." Samus answered as she walked over to Marth.

Marth had a smile on his face. He held up an item in his hands. "I believe this new clasp will hold your bracelet together. Plus all the dents are out of your bracelet."

Samus took back the bracelet he had given her some time ago and looked at it. "It looks brand new." She gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Marth. This means a lot. But maybe you should keep it. Since we're not dating like we used to anymore."

Marth shook his head. "Doesn't matter. That bracelet has unity in it and it keeps us together. Besides I doubt I'll see another person with the same name as you, Samus."

Samus laughed at Marth's corny joke. "You can be so retarded sometimes. And that's what I like about you."

"Aww...think we'll be like them one day?" Zelda said as she snuggled against Link's shoulder, who only chuckled and pressed his face against hers.

Roy rolled his eyes at both couples. " Come on, guys! Please don't get mushy on the plane ride home. It's a good five hour flight."

"Roy!" Peach exclaimed. "Leave them alone. You're just jealous that you don't have someone special in your life like Marth and Link do."

"Please. I can get anyone. I'll have someone in good time." He lowered his eyes at Peach as he started to board the plane. "You on the other hand, are going to be one of those old miserable ladies whose best chance for a husband is with her cat." He laughed and boarded the plane.

Peach grew angry. "I'm going to strangle that jerk!" She stormed onto the plane. The other four smashers laughed as they heard arguing and fighting on the plane.

Samus turned to Link and Zelda. "We better hurry and get on before we get left."

"You guys go ahead. I need to talk to Zelda for a moment."

"Alright then. See you on the plane." Marth said as he and Samus walked up the stairs.

"Oh, wait." Samus looked in her carry-on bag. She pulled out a large black handed it to Marth. "Here's your book back from when we first came here."

"The book!" Marth remembered his beloved book was stolen on the plane ride here. "You had it this whole time."

"Well, they hid it in my carry-on bag. They suggested I throw it over a bridge, but I know how much your books mean to you and I figured in case you got bored, you could read it. But you see, you had fun without it." She sighed. "So, now that you've spent a little bit of socializing time with us, you can have the book and read it if you want. I'd hate to leave you suffering both here and back."

Marth looked at the book. He tucked it under his arm. "That's alright, I can read anytime. This is probably our last time to spend much time together before I go back to investigating Altea and you go back to missions." Marth brushed some of Samus' hair out of her face from the wind. "I rather spend my five hours talking to my friends and spend some time talking to just you."

Samus smiled. "I would too." She followed Marth onto the plane as he put his arm around her shoulder.

Zelda smirked. "Their partial break-up won't last long."

"Of course. The first thing that's going to happen is Marth is going to get paranoid and then complain to Roy and I."

"Then Samus is going to start feeling guilty and talk to me and Peach."

"And then they'll face each other and then…"

"They'll argue for half a day and then get together the next day. And that'll be end of that." Zelda giggled thinking about it. "We know them well, don't we?"

"Too well." Link pulled something out of his pocket. It was a white envelope. He waved it in front of Zelda's face. She looked at him as he explained, "Falco was supposed to give this to you two days ago and he just remembered now. This was your other surprise. It's a letter from Hyrule."

Zelda gasped. She took the note slowly from his hands. She opened the envelope and three contents came out of the envelope. There were two amulets and a bracelet. Zelda looked at the note that fell out. She slowly read it.

_Zelda,_

_It has been a while since I've seen you. I know you're making us proud while you are in Nintendo. But we've always been proud of you. Since it is your sixteenth birthday, your father believes it's time for you to carry the Tri-Force amulets of Farore and Nayru. I will explain later what theses amulets are for. In the meantime, please take good care of these items. Give the green amulet to Link and you keep the blue one. I know you two will keep them safe.  
The third item in the letter is your Mother's bracelet. Right before your mother passed, she gave it to me and she wanted me to pass it on to you when I felt you were mature enough. You have developed into a lovely young lady. Your father may not say it often and he may seem like he doesn't care for you, but he is quite proud of the splended young woman you are becoming. He believes you are in your mother's image. _

_I hope you are having a lovely birthday and we miss you. We hope to see you again soon._

_Love, _

_Your Father and Impa_

_PS Make sure you keep that fairy boy under control._

Zelda clutched the note tightly in her hands. "I never thought I would hear from them again."

Link placed the amulet of Nayru around Zelda's neck. It was a whole fake triforce with the three pieces and in the middle of it was a blue like sphere and the blue power inside was swirling around inside the sphere like wind. His was exactly the same except his amulet was the power of Farore and it was green. "Are you going to be okay?"

Zelda felt tears come to her eyes, but they were tears of joy. "Yes. I always thought something happened to them. But now that I have this letter in possession, I know they're alright." She wiped her tears away. "I feel like a large weight was just lifted off of me. Even still, I do miss Hyrule."

Link thought about his home. "I miss Hyrule too. But they'll be okay without us. They seem to be doing fine right now."

Zelda nodded. "Yes." She looked at her blue sphere necklace. "I guess we have a duty now. We have to protect these amulets. I wonder how hard that will be?"

"Not hard at all. We're a great team, Zelda. We'll be able to handle this easily. As long as we have each other to rely on." He kissed Zelda's forehead. "I'm going to always be here for you, Zelda."

"And I will be here for you too." Zelda smiled. "We'll keep Hyrule safe for as long as we live. I'm sure our future adventures are going to be a real rollercoaster."

"Don't know what the future holds, but I think our future is going to be bright." He heard their names being called. "Looks like we better hurry onto the plane." Link shoved the envelope into his pocket as they walked side by side onto the plane. "Hmm…a plane ride. huh?" He smirked at Zelda. "You scared?"

Zelda thought about it. _Let's see. I'm going on a plane ride with my good friends Samus, Peach, Marth, and Roy. Plus I have you with me Link. And the six of us will be too busy having fun. _She lightly laughed as she squeezed Link's free hand gently and whispered into his ear. "Not anymore."

**THE END**

**IT'S OVER! Well it's been real reviewers. Thanks for all you have done. I would like to thank all the people who put this in their favorites. And I thank the following reviewers:  
**

Hylian Princess,

xxlovely-,

RoyalFanatic,

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mew katt

SnowCrystal,

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who cares,

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sam,

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reindled wildfire13,

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Anon.,

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Your #1 Fan,

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anime/videogame freak,

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THEFLOOD,

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Anonymous,

Fallen D,

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shooter rainy,

Shadow Link50,

Clario,

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MarthZeldaLink-triangle fan,

the hero of time 2005,

takigurl,

SweetChobit,

darkbth,

pikachukitty,

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HappyHam,

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funkymoleperson,

zeldaisthebest,

Hamtarolover226,

israelac,

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Chocolate-Snowman-2222,

Yuki-Year of the Rat

**You guys are all so awesome. I was thinking of something. I wanted to make a forum where of us can just gather and talk about our stories and give advice on stories and stuff. But it will all be positive. I think it would be nice if we all exchange advice and stuff. So I was thinking of making the forum myself. It'll be called Fanfiction Extravaganza. And we can all just have topics on fanfiction and stuff. I think it would be fun. But if it doesn't work out, I'll just delete it. Anyway, where do I go from here? Well I've been thinking about writing about four more stories all at the same time. I don't know what to name two of the stories. One of them is nameless and its sort like a connecting story to this one. But in the meantime while I work it out keep an eye out for the two new upcoming stories My Smile is Yours and Romanticism. My Smile is Yours is going to be a mature and serious romance. Not sexually mature. It will still be rated T. I'm still a proper child. Romanticism is going to be a silly love story with many couples coming together thanks to a certain cupid and then there's someone trying to break the couples apart. That's all I'll tell you for now. I guess while I'm working on those stories I would like to read your guys' stories so please update them. You don't know how happy I am that you had the patience for my slow updating. I thank you again. I never thought I would reach over 200 reviews. Anyway, I'm going to miss you all. Bye now! Now, please excuse me while I pass out from exhaustion of writing. (Passes out)**

**Royal Kenya**


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